The Interference III: Wings of Time
by Newbie-Spud
Summary: In search of the remainder of Ansem's apprentices, Alexander brings Edward and Alphonse Elric along to the world of Chrono Trigger. For the first time in all of his adventures, he has become an Interference on purpose. But will they be as successful here?
1. Reflecting On Old Times

**The Interference III: Wings of Time**

Chapter 1  
Reflecting On Old Times

A portal appeared in front of the television in the small apartment's living room, and three figures fell out of it. One was a large light blue suit of armor. Another was a short boy with blond hair, gold eyes, and a red trenchcoat with a black outfit beneath. The last figure in the middle was a dark brown-haired boy with hazel eyes, who wore dark brown boots, dark green baggy slacks with big pockets at the sides, a black undershirt, a dark red jacket, and gray fingerless gloves. In the middle boy's right hand was a moderately sized round shield, with a dark green design and the Heartless emblem in the middle and a small keyhole in the center.

The shorter boy stood up, rubbing his sore side as the portal closed behind them. "Isn't there a better way to land out of those?" he groaned.

The boy in the middle stood up as well, shaking his head to rid himself of his disorientation. "Maybe," he replied at length. "I've done that a few times, and I haven't found a good landing so far."

The tall suit of armor looked around at the apartment. "So this is your home, Alex?" he asked conversationally.

The hazel-eyed boy nodded. His full name was Alexander Ephiram Karsath. His close friends just called him Alex for short. Until recently, Alexander had been a regular teenager of fourteen years going on fifteen. Two weeks until his birthday, he had found himself sucked into the world of the video roleplaying game Kingdom Hearts II. In that world, he gained the weapon that was currently in his hand, which called the Lockshield. The Lockshield was the direct equal and opposite of Sora's Keyblade, with similar powers and properties. Alexander himself became dubbed the Interference, for his presence within that universe caused slight changes to the storyline.

Alexander had made it through the entire game of Kingdom Hearts II, and found his way back into the real world, where he discovered that no time had passed. Two weeks later, on the very minute of his fifteenth birthday, his younger sister Erica became an Interference in the game Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir. Alex had gone in after her, taking his friends from Kingdom Hearts II along with him. Unfortunately, in a struggle for power against Alex, Erica had willingly become a humanoid Heartless, and had been destroyed by Alexander's hands.

Alex discovered near the end of the game that the remainder of Ansem's apprentices, Braig, Dilan, Elaeus, Even, and Ienzo, had all become aware of their presence within the game universe a long time ago. They had been watching Alexander for a while during his time as the Interference, seeing what changes he would make and what powers he would obtain. Dilan had been the one in charge of overseeing Alex's presence in the Fullmetal Alchemist game. Alex barely managed to defeat the apprentice, but learned that the others were waiting for him, and would enter whatever universe he created next. So Alex left the Fullmetal Alchemist world, vowing to find the apprentices and beat them at their own game.

Taking advantage of the universal time stop law, the two main protagonists of the last game, Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse Elric, had decided to accompany Alexander to the next world to render some assistance to him. They had just left the world of Amestris at this point.

Edward, the short blond boy, took a look around at the apartment. It was pretty dark. "Is it nighttime here?" he asked suddenly.

Alexander nodded again, his Lockshield disappearing in a puff of inky black smoke. "It was about midnight when Erica had entered your game. In fact, it was the midnight of my fifteenth birthday..."

Though it was hard to tell by just a suit of armor, Alphonse looked surprised. "It's your birthday today!?" he repeated incredulously. Another nod from Alex was all he needed. "Wow," Alphonse remarked. "You never mentioned that when you arrived at all..."

"It didn't seem important at the time," Alex said, brushing off the accusation. "Our main concern was Erica; that was about it."

Edward chuckled. "Still, that's pretty cool. We're about the same age." He looked around some more. "So... how do we get to this next world or whatever?"

Alex grinned. "Ah, about that." He turned around toward the television and knelt down to the PS2 below it. Next to the console was a stack of various games. "I haven't done this on purpose before, so I'm not sure how to go about it."

_**Just pick a game and pop it in,**_ Joumae, Alexander's dark counterpart, berated him in his mind. **_Once you create a connection in any way, that'll create an opportunity for an Interference._**

The boy sighed. "Alright, Joumae," he muttered aloud. Edward and Alphonse already knew about Joumae, so it was fine for Alex to reply to him aloud. Not that Joumae spoke often; the last thing Alex needed was a backseat driver.

"Well," Alexander continued, "since it's my choice anyway, there's a couple of things I have to keep in mind." He waited until he saw that he had the Elrics attention, then continued. "First, it'll have to be a game that I like, and that I would want to be a part of. Secondly, it'll have to be physically plausible. I don't want to suck us into some kind of futuristic setting where we can't get around," he remarked, glancing over Ratchet and Clank. Good platformer, but not something he'd want to try.

"I think another roleplaying game will have to do," Alex said after a moment. He snapped his fingers. "In fact, one made by Square-Enix or one of its predecessors will do the trick. Square's games always have good storylines, so they're great for being Interferences in."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Are you going to keep going on and on like this, or are you going to pick a game already?"

Alphonse glanced at his brother. "Edward..." he chided him.

"Alright, alright," Alexander muttered, rolling his eyes. "It's just a hard choice. I have plenty of RPGs, and I can't decide which one I want." As soon as he said that, he suddenly froze in place. He had gotten an idea. Slowly grinning, he said, "Maybe one of the best RPGs of all _time_...!"

He ran back to his bedroom, leaving the Elrics in a confused state. When he returned, he was carrying a blocky console and a large game cartridge. Edward chuckled. "What the heck is that thing!?" he demanded.

Alex smirked in spite of Edward's teasing. "This..." he muttered, setting the console and the game cartridge down, "is a Super Nintendo." As he started to work the Playstation 2 and the Super Nintendo's wires, he explained, "It's a much older console, and not exactly advanced enough for playing games of the same caliber that yours is. However, there was a game that kept fans clinging to this console months after the first Playstation was released."

He held up the game cartridge for Edward and Alphonse to see clearly, even in the dim light of the apartment. "Chrono Trigger...?" Alphonse read.

The Interference nodded. "Yep. Arguably one of Square's best roleplaying games." He plugged in the video wire into the VCR, and hooked up the controller to the console. Placing the cartridge in the console, Alex added, "I think that this'll make for a pretty good adventure, even if I do say so myself."

Alex turned the Super Nintendo on, and the game Chrono Trigger loaded up. The Elrics watched as Alexander found his way to the screen where the saved games were to be loaded. There was two games saved already, both labeled, "The Fated Hour."

The gamer smirked. "I've beaten this game several times before. I'll know it backward and forward." He stood up and looked back at his alchemist companions. "You ready?"

Alphonse looked at his brother. "This is why we're here, right?"

Edward shrugged. "If we're going to get going, let's get going."

Alex grinned and looked back at the television, summoning his Lockshield. He pointed the center of the shield at the screen and shouted, "Unlock!" A bright blue beam shot out of the shield and impacted the television. There was a bright flash of light...

* * *

The sound of a large bell ringing was heard. "Crono..." a woman's voice said. When there was no reply, it repeated, "Crono! Good morning, Crono!" 

The spiky red-haired boy began to shift around in his bed as his mother approached him. "Come on, sleepy head!" she insisted, shaking him slightly. "Get up!"

Crono looked over at her groggily, then turned back around and dug his head into his pillow. His mother sighed and walked over to the window, pushing the curtains aside and letting the light in. Crono pulled the sheets over his head to block the sudden increase in light.

His mother smiled as the sound of the bell came in a little clearer. "Ah, Leene's Bell makes such beautiful music!" his mother exclaimed. She walked back over to Crono's bed and shook her head sadly. "You were so excited about the Millennial Fair that you didn't sleep well, did you...?"

She chuckled, and exclaimed, "I want you to behave yourself today!" She started to walk out of the room, but then turned around and added, "Let's get moving, now!" At long last, she descended the stairs.

Crono finally got up and out of bed, putting on his garments for the day. He looked over at the window and allowed his eyes to adjust to the light. He did a few basic stretches to wake himself up, then smiled. Today certainly _felt_ different, if nothing else. After checking his room to make sure everything was in order, he walked down the stairs.

His mom greeted him on the landing. "Finally!" she remarked playfully. "By the way, that inventor friend of yours... Uh... you know...!" She threw her hands up into the air. "Oh, dear, I've forgotten her name!"

Crono rolled his eyes and quickly reminded his mother of the friend's name. She nodded. "That's right, _Lucca_! Don't forget that she invited you to see her new invention! Run along now, and be back before dinner." She turned to walk away, then stopped and turned back to him with a shocked expression. "Oh, I almost forgot! Here's your allowance, dear!" Crono took the usual two hundred gold coins that was due.

"Have fun at the fair!" his mother called after him as he ran out the door.

* * *

Another portal appeared just outside the grounds of Leene Square. Once again, the trio of Alex, Edward, and Alphonse landed unceremoniously on the ground as they fell out. Edward shook his head. "We're never gonna get this right, are we?" 

Alex rubbed the back of his neck. "Perhaps not." He stood up and looked around... and grinned. Just a short distance away was Leene Square, where a large crowd had gathered for the Millennial Fair. Seagulls flew in from the nearby coast. Balloons flew up from Leene Square, and the sound of exploding fireworks filled the air at times. The land looked untamed and homely at the same time. The colors were vibrant and the surroundings were rich with life.

"This is it, guys," he declared with a tone of authority. "The world of Chrono Trigger. This is Guardia."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	2. The Millennial Fair

Chapter 2  
The Millennial Fair

After pushing past the initial large crowd (made easy by Alphonse's presence), the trio finally made it onto the fairgrounds, which were relatively less packed. Nonetheless, it was busy. There was a race going on around the first level of the square, merchants sold various items and equipment from their booths, various people ran the carnival games... It was, again, busy.

"Welcome to the Millennial Fair!" an old man kindly greeted the trio as they passed. "Have fun!"

After a few moments, Alex pointed out a spiky red-haired kid going into a large tent with a demonic-looking skull at the front. "See that kid going into the big tent?" he said to his friends. Edward and Alphonse barely nodded. Alex nodded back. "That's Crono, this game's main protagonist."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Chrono?" he mumbled.

Alex looked confused for a moment, then got what Edward meant. Chuckling, he replied, "Haha, no, it's spelled without the 'h.'" He paused, his expression changing to intrigue. "Funny, I never really gave that naming much thought."

Alphonse sighed. "Well, let's see if we can meet up with him. Still, Square-Enix must be really into the spiky hair, doesn't it?"

Alex patted the top of his own head automatically. His hair had been made naturally spiky when he'd received his magical garments from Kingdom Hearts II. Judging by Alexander, Sora, and now Crono, Alex realized that it was easy for Alphonse to make such a statement. He chuckled again. "Yeah, I guess so..."

"C'mon," Edward growled, rolling his eyes, "let's go after him already!"

As they approached the large tent, the man standing beside it declared, "This is the renowned 'Tent of Horrors!' Spend your Silver Points here!" Glancing at Edward, he added quickly, "Viewer discretion advised."

Alex and Alphonse froze. Edward slowly turned toward the man with a scowl on his face. "Why do you say that?" he asked the man coldly.

The man who'd made the declaration looked confused. "Well, it's debatable whether or not the content within is too scary for children or not..."

A vein visibly pulsed in Edward's forehead. "Are you implying that I'm a child!?" the alchemist demanded, his voice dripping with malice.

The man suddenly began to sweat, but he still looked confused. Apparently, his body knew what was coming before his mind did. "Well..." he replied tentatively, "I just guessed since you were so short..."

Alex clamped his hands over his ears.

That was the breaking point for Edward. Charging at the man, he screamed, "**Who're you callin' the Guinness Book of World Records' biggest shorty!?!?**" He whacked the man as hard as he could with his automail arm, sending the stranger crashing into the stone wall behind the tent. The man landed on the ground in a heap, knocked cold for the next few minutes at the very least.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Alexander shook his head and quickly said, "Let's get inside the tent before someone comes." And with nothing further to be said, he dashed into the tent's opening.

* * *

To the party's surprise, the inside of the tent looked more like a dungeon. Nothing like the outside. In the middle of the room, a face floated in midair, accompanied by two floating hands. Probably a trick of the light of some sort, but Alexander couldn't tell for sure. At the back of the room was a large gate, and a set of glowing yellow sinister eyes were just beyond it in the darkness. 

Crono walked up to the face, who chuckled and backed away a little. "Welcome to Norstein Bekkler's lab," the stranger announced with glee. "The spine-tingling show is about to start!"

Bekkler glanced at the trio. "Are you guys gonna play too?" he asked curiously. Crono looked back at them as well.

Not wanting to draw too much attention for now, Alex shook his head and held up his hands defensively. "Don't mind us," he insisted. "We'll just watch for now."

Crono nodded, and stepped to the back of the room, near the entrance. Bekkler floated to the side. Facing Crono again, he asked in his creepy voice, "How many Silver Points would you like to pay?"

Crono held out a green card. On the back were several small silver magnetic circles, stuck to the card. Bekkler swiped them all off. "Ten points," he counted, and then grinned. "Alright! You'll play the ten point game!"

The gate opened, and three similar-looking men in armor stepped forward, stopping in the middle of the room. The three men arranged themselves in a line. The one on Crono's left stepped forward. "I'm Vicks."

The man on the other side of the line stepped forward as Vicks returned. "I'm Wedge."

The man in the middle stepped forward. "I'm Piette."

As soon as all three introductions were finished, the three men began to move around rapidly. They moved in such a fashion, and they looked so similar, that it was hard to tell who was who by the time they stopped moving and returned to their line. Alex knew a trick, however: he had paid close attention to only one of the men. He'd kept an eye on Wedge.

"Find Wedge," Bekkler ordered. Alexander grinned. That was great! Wedge was on the left; he'd been able to follow him with his eyes the whole time.

Crono, however, just stared at the three men with a confused expression. He apparently hadn't been paying so close attention, and did not know which one was Wedge. Alex sighed internally.

Then something caught Alex's attention. He looked closely, and saw that Crono was looking directly at him out of the corner of his eye. Alexander could only guess why he was doing this. It was a pretty good guess. Alex shifted his right hand to draw Crono's attention to it, then put one finger down for a short moment.

Crono nodded very slightly. He walked over to the man on the left. The man frowned, and said, "I'm Wedge."

Bekkler did a take. "Is it **that** obvious!?" He smiled, and summoned a strange, short orange doll, seemingly from out of thin air. "It's a Poyozo doll," he explained. "It'll spruce up your room!" He then promised to deliver it to Crono's room soon, and the party and Crono left the tent.

* * *

Edward grinned as they walked up the stairs to the next level of Leene Square. "How'd you know that guy was Wedge?" he asked Crono. 

Crono stopped, and glanced at Alexander, who grinned sheepishly. "I, uh, told him," Alex admitted. "I had picked one of them to keep a close eye on, and it turned out my guess was correct."

Alphonse placed a hand on his helmet. "So it wasn't completely fair... Oh well." He looked at Crono, deciding that this was as good a time as any. "Hey, uh... can we tag along with you for a while? We don't know our way around that well..."

Alex coughed. He was glad that Alphonse knew how to be discreet. He had made sure not to use Crono's name, and he had ignored the fact that Alex knew his way around _perfectly_.

Crono thought about it for a moment. He shrugged, and nodded at them.

Alex grinned. "Thanks. My name's Alexander. Alex for short." Gesturing at the Elric brothers, he said, "That's Edward, and his little brother Alphonse."

The scarlet-haired boy nodded, though he looked confused at the height difference between the elder and younger brothers. He shrugged it off (to Alex's and Alphonse's relief), and simply said, "Crono."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "You don't talk much, do you?" Crono shrugged again, signaling his indifference. Alex couldn't help but grin. Like in many RPGs he'd played, Crono was one who suffered from the main protagonists' muteness.

Crono started to walk again, but he only got about two yards ahead before he was plowed down by a girl running at top speed. "**Hey!!**" the girl exclaimed as they were thrown back to the ground. A shining pendant fell to the ground a few feet away. Crono was quick to recover, and he checked on the girl who was just getting back to her feet. "Ouch, that hurt!" she whined.

The bell in the center of the square began to ring as the girl approached Crono and the trio. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized sincerely. "Are you okay?" Crono nodded, and the girl sighed in relief.

"Just don't run so fast next time!" Edward chided her. The girl nodded, and started to walk away. Now that the excitement was over, they were able to get a better look at her. She had long orange-blond hair in a ponytail, and she wore a teal outfit with a respectable top and baggy pants.

She suddenly stopped, feeling around her neck. "Oh no... My pendant!" She started to look around frantically. "Oh, no! Don't tell me I lost it!"

Crono glanced over to where the pendant had landed. While the trio watched, he walked over to it, picked it up, and ran back over to the girl. The stranger jumped in shock. "Oh, thank goodness!" she exclaimed. "My pendant! It has a lot of sentimental value! May I have it back?"

"Yes," Crono replied simply, handing over the pendant to the girl, who quickly put it on.

"I came to see the Festival!" the girl explained excitedly. She stared at Crono for a moment. "You... live in this town, don't you!? I feel a little out of place here. Would you mind if I walked around with you for a while?"

Crono glanced at the trio, then shook his head. He didn't need a whole pack of people following him. "Sorry."

The girl did a take. "Oh, come on!" she whined. "I don't know anyone around here! Please!"

Crono sighed and finally gave in. "Okay."

The stranger literally jumped for joy. "You're a true gentleman!" she exclaimed. After a few jumps, she stopped and suddenly furrowed her brow. "Oh, by the way... My name is, er..." She paused for a few moments as she thought. "...um, Marle!" She looked at the perplexed boys. "And you all are...?"

Marle received the names of the boys in turn. "Crono, Alexander, Edward, and Alphonse?" She smiled. "What nice names! Please to meet you all!" Then, grinning childishly, Marle ordered, "Now, lead on!"

Edward suddenly noticed a few things. Namely, a sword sheath at Crono's waist, and a crossbow strapped to Marle's back. How he'd missed those before, he'd never know. "So... people around here carry weapons often, huh?"

Marle chuckled nervously. "It's mainly for practice," she mumbled. "I'd never use it against someone offhandedly." Crono nodded in her direction, indicating that his views on the matter were the same.

Alexander smirked.

* * *

So the party of five explored the fairground for a while. The level above was apparently reserved for the invention of one Lucca, whose name Crono (and Alexander, of course) recognized. But she apparently wasn't done setting up yet, so they were just going to waste time elsewhere. 

On the west side of the square, they found a few stalls. One of them had some kind of prepared meat on it. Crono looked at it hungrily; he didn't seem to have eaten breakfast on the way to the Fair. But Alex pulled him away. "Don't eat that!" he muttered tersely. "That's someone's lunch!" He indicated an old man on the other side of the stall, who thankfully hadn't noticed them yet.

Right behind one stall, they found a cat sitting around, looking lost. Upon the sight of Crono, it meowed and began to follow him. The boy immediately looked bewildered.

Alphonse, whom Alex remembered had an affinity for cats, exclaimed, "Aw, she looks lost! Maybe she got separated from her owner in the fairground! We've got to reunite them!"

Edward only groaned at his brother's enthusiasm.

Fortunately, they found a little girl on the east side of the grounds that recognized the cat on sight. "You brought back my cat!" the kid shouted with joy. "Thank you!"

Marle chuckled to herself. "You're so sweet, Crono!"

* * *

After a while, word reached the group that Lucca was all set up at the north end of the Square. As Crono started to climb the steps, Marle grabbed him by the collar of his tunic and shouted, "Hold your horses! I want to get some candy." 

She dragged Crono, whose eyes were rolling, over to a stall that was selling something akin to cotton candy. The others just watched as Marle spent an agonizingly long time picking a flavor. Crono had tried to step away at one point, but Marle had dragged him back once more, yelling, "Give me just a second!"

At long last, Marle hailed the storekeeper and said, "Hi! I'd like some of this." She held up a red-violet colored bunch of cotton candy.

The lady behind the counter nodded. "Sure, young lady."

Money and candy was exchanged, and Marle laughed. "Thanks for waiting!" she said to the others. Finally, they climbed the steps to the north end.

As they reached the small crowd forming, they heard a voice announcing, "Step right on up, any of you who have the time and the courage! Our 'Super Dimension Warp' is the invention of the century!"

At the other end of the section of the square, they saw two large gazebo-like machines, with a large complicated system next to them. They were perfectly parallel to each other. On the machine on the left side, a violet-haired girl with a helmet and a brown working outfit on did maintenance with her back to the crowd.

The man, whom Alex recognized as Taban, continued with his pitch. He walked over to the left machine. "To use it," he explained excitedly, "jump up here..." He moved over to the other machine, and declared, "...and you'll get teleported here! It's the masterwork of my beautiful daughter, Lucca."

The girl on the machine turned around and smiled at the crowd. Crono visibly seemed to recognize the glasses-wearing inventor. Lucca did a take when she saw her friend. "Crono! Where have you been!?" she demanded. "No one wants to try the Telepod! How about you?"

Marle grinned widely. "It looks like fun!" she exclaimed. "I'll watch while you try it out!" She and the trio watched as Crono walked onto the platform of the first machine.

Edward grimaced. "I hope this thing isn't anything like the transmutation circles in Siam-Sid..." he muttered with a physical recollection of his nausea.

Taban flipped a switch on the machine next to Crono. "All systems on!" he declared.

Lucca moved to the other machine and oversaw the proceedings. "Begin energy transfer!" she ordered after a few moments. A bright blue light enveloped Crono, and he suddenly disappeared. The same blue light gathered within the other machine, and the immensely surprised Crono reappeared again, almost losing his balance.

The crowd was shocked. They spoke excitedly amongst themselves, with things like, "Oh wow," and, "That was **great**!" Some of them were a little less enthusiastic, with sayings like, "I guess even **her** inventions have to work, sometimes." A little boy yelled, "Check out that girl's glasses!"

Taban was also surprised. "It... **worked**!? **I can't believe it**!" Suddenly embarrassed by his exclamation, he hastily covered it up with, "Uh, er, a thrilling display of science at its best, ladies and gentlemen!"

Alphonse took in all of this, and remarked, "I guess Lucca's previous inventions weren't all that great to these people..."

Edward nodded. "Still, this thing worked pretty well, and Crono's looking okay. Either that," he added disdainfully, "or he has a strong stomach."

Marle walked over to Crono and Lucca. "What a kick!" she excitedly exclaimed. "I want to try it, too!"

Lucca looked a little confused by Marle's presence. "Huh?" Grinning at Crono, she said, "Hey Crono, how did you pick up a cutie like her?" Crono shot her a withering glare.

Marle chuckled and walked over to the machine on the left side. "Hang on, you guys!" she called back to them. "I'll be right there!"

Hearing this, Taban announced, "Behold, ladies and gentlemen, as this vision of loveliness steps aboard the machine." It seemed to work; the crowd, stunned by the previous display, watched Marle closely.

Marle stepped onto the platform. "Don't go away!" she repeated. "I'll be right back!"

Taban smirked at her. "You're sure about this...?" he baited her. "There's still time to change your mind!"

The girl quickly shook her head. "No way!" she yelled. "Throw the switch!"

Chuckling to himself, Taban walked back to the machine next to the platform and declared, "Okay, everyone, let's give her a great big hand when she reappears!" He was apparently enjoying this machine's success. He approached the machine and flipped the switch. "All systems on!"

Alexander grimaced. "Don't be surprised by what happens next, guys," he warned his comrades. Edward and Alphonse were suddenly alert. Crono, fortunately, didn't hear Alex's warning.

Lucca stood next to the other machine. "Begin energy transfer!"

Instead of immediately activating, a few minutes went by without the machine doing anything. Out of nowhere, Marle's pendant began to glow brightly. "What's happening?" she mumbled, looking down at it. "My pendant... it's..."

The machine suddenly began to spark. "Huh?" Lucca muttered, as she and Taban quickly backed away from the machine. In the middle of the sparks, right between the machines, a giant portal suddenly appeared. A bright blue light surrounded Marle, and she disappeared. The blue light gathered back right in the portal, and Marle reappeared within it, unconscious. The portal closed with her still inside.

Ignoring the shocked mutterings of the crowd, Alex noticed that the pendant was laying on the floor of the machine's platform. Taban quickly ran over to where the portal had been, and then glared at Lucca. "Lucca! Where is she!?" he demanded. Noticing that the crowd had remained, he quickly shouted, "Show's over, folks! Let's head along, now!"

The rest of the crowd quietly retreated from the square, but Crono, Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander remained. Taban quickly moved back to his daughter. "What's going on, Lucca? **Where is she**?" he repeated.

Lucca sighed, and looked back at the retreating crowd in contemplation. After a few moments, she said, "The way she disappeared... It couldn't have been the Telepod! The warp field seemed to be affected by her pendant..."

Taban glanced around worriedly. "What are we going to do now?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses thoughtfully. "She's so familiar!" she remarked. "I **know** I've seen her somewhere..."

Alexander looked back at the pendant, and was about to say something. Crono, however, had already approached the machine and picked up the pendant. He stood on the platform, holding the pendant and looking at Lucca expectantly.

The mechanic girl did a take at what Crono was implying. "Crono!"

"C'mon, guys!" Alex suddenly exclaimed, running onto the platform as well. Edward and Alphonse hastily followed him. Soon, all four boys were on the platform, though it was a tight fit. Crono nodded slowly, and they all took a hold of the pendant.

Taban stared at the group. "You're actually going to do it!?" he gasped. "What fine lads!"

Lucca took a long look at the trio. "Just who are you three, anyway?" she asked suddenly.

Alexander smirked at her. "My name's Alexander Karsath!" he declared.

Edward also gave her a smirk. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"

Alphonse nodded at Lucca. "Nice to meet you, Lucca. I'm Edward's younger brother, Alphonse Elric."

Lucca sighed, and gave a sharp look at the quartet. "Listen!" she ordered. "I don't know where this machine is going to send you, but we haven't any other choice."

The Elrics glanced at Alexander, who knew exactly where they were going. Taban gave Lucca a skeptical look. "Won't they all be lost?" he asked.

Lucca shook her head. "This is our only hope!" she replied. "That pendant seems to be the key, so hang on to it, you guys, and brace yourself!"

Taban nodded, ran over to the machine, and flipped the switch. "All systems on!"

Lucca nodded and ran over to the other machine. "Begin energy transfer!" After a few moments of nothing happening, she yelled, "Power to full!"

"Roger!" Taban replied, and adjusted a few dials and levers.

Still, nothing happened, though the pendant started to glow faintly. "More!" Lucca shouted. "Give me more power!"

"Roger!" Taban repeated again.

After a few more seconds, the machine violently sparked. "There! We did it!" Lucca declared. The quartet was bathed in the bright blue light, and they disappeared. Alexander had the unnerving feeling of being torn up into several pieces and then put back together again. When his sight returned, they were within the portal that had appeared.

"I'll follow you after I know what went wrong!" Lucca reassured them. "Good luck, Crono, Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander!" The portal closed, blocking Alexander's view of the present.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	3. Dark Ages

Chapter 3  
Dark Ages

They floated through the mysterious warp space for some time. All the while, they had the sensation of movement. While it sounds redundant, this was actually important. This indicated that Marle had actually _gone_ somewhere, instead of the suspicion that she had been consumed by the infinite space. However, there was also the sense that some element of the world was being warped along with them. So they had no idea as to where Marle had gone.

After a while, a hole opened up at one end of the space, and the newly formed quartet stumbled out of it. Alphonse was lucky enough to land on his feet this time, though he had to regain his balance. Crono fell to one knee as he landed. Alexander and Edward just fell as unceremoniously as before.

"Where do I recognize _this_...?" Edward growled sarcastically as soon as he had removed his face from the earth beneath them. Alexander ignored the comment, stood up, and looked around. They were in a grassy clearing, with tall walls of rock around them, with a path leading to the rest of the area. It seemed they were on some kind of mountain path.

Crono stood up as well and took a step forward. All of a sudden, they heard a rustling noise in the bushes around them. The quartet was immediately alert. Even Edward stopped his complaining long enough to listen.

With some kind of battle cry, three small blue creatures charged out of the bushes, surrounding them. Alex cringed. The game's Blue Imps were not a very pleasant sight in reality. Still, it was apparent they were hostile, and the four comrades were battle ready.

Crono unsheathed his sword, though a little nervously. Edward rolled his eyes when he saw the weapon: it was a _wooden sword_! Even the Blue Imps seemed to snicker at the sight of the cheap makeshift weapon.

"For goodness sake!" Edward exclaimed. "Get a real weapon!" And, with that, he clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. Out of blue sparks, he transmuted an actual katana from the grass and soil. There was a small hole in the ground where Edward had made the transmutation.

Edward tossed the sword at Crono, who was quick to brandish it. With a look of some regret, Crono tossed the wooden sword aside. Alex was confused by the sad expression, but then it hit him: Crono had trained with that weapon. It was hard to let go of a weapon you'd used for a long time.

Alexander summoned his Lockshield – the Heartless Seal design to be specific – out of darkness and brandished it. This also seemed to be surprising to the Chrono Trigger universe characters. Nonetheless, three of those characters wouldn't last much longer.

Shocked by the display of alchemy and magic, the Blue Imps were not the first to attack. Alphonse charged instead and punched one of the creatures. It fell back easily under the force of the punch. When it landed, its entire body suddenly glowed red and faded away.

Alexander also charged and slashed the second Blue Imp with his Lockshield. It didn't even hit the ground before it faded away. Crono sliced through the third enemy with his new sword, and defeated it in one blow. By now, Edward and Alphonse had come to the conclusion that these enemies were very, very weak.

Crono, seeing that the enemies were gone, sheathed his new sword and shot a searching look at the trio of Alex, Edward, and Alphonse. Edward grinned. "That was alchemy I used to create that sword," he explained, having sensed the unsaid question. "We're all alchemists, though Alex is not so much of one than we are."

The scarlet-haired boy shifted his gaze to the Interference. Alexander realized that he was looking at his Lockshield. Alex held it up. "This weapon... is called the Lockshield. It's... well, a weapon of darkness, to be perfectly honest. As for how I got it... Well, believe me, the time's going to come where all will have to be explained, and it'll make more sense then."

Crono rolled his eyes and turned toward the only exit out of the clearing. He led the way out, letting the other three follow. The next area was a set of rock platforms connected by a bridge, which hung over a river fed by a small waterfall to the side.

When they came into clear view, a large blue bird-like creature suddenly cawed and flew away. A little confused but nonetheless undaunted, the party continued on. They crossed the bridge and stepped onto the next platform. As soon as they did, they heard several cawing sounds again. Two of the strange birds each carried a Blue Imp with their talons, and dropped them on the platform before flying away. Once again, the fighters were challenged by mediocre enemies.

Still, Alexander was quick to advise his alchemist friends, "Let Crono do most of the work for now. He has the least experience of us, and these are too easy for us." Crono didn't hear this, having already charged at the Blue Imps. He slashed them up easily with his sword, and it wasn't long before the path was once again clear.

They walked down a slope to the ground below, where they found two Blue Imps kicking a green armadillo-like Roly Poly creature back and forth. At first, the Elric brothers and Crono were wary, but Alex simply smirked and said, "They won't bother us unless we attack them. Let's just pass by and move on."

They were still wary, but the creatures paid them absolutely no mind as they moved on by. Amused and confused at the same time, the quartet left Truce Canyon and walked into the open plains.

* * *

Even Alexander was surprised by how different the town looked right now. Wherever they had gone, it looked remarkably like Crono's hometown. And yet, it was incredibly different. More... primitive, it seemed. 

Crono walked into one residence while the others waited outside. It seemed that good-natured (but random) neighborly visits were accepted in this world. After what seemed like a quick talk with the residents, Crono walked back out of the house, looking confused.

Crono sighed. "600 AD," he said simply.

The Elrics were immensely surprised. Alexander just pretended to be surprised for Crono's sake. No need to break the truth of the game... yet. "It's the year 600?" he interpreted. "That would explain the lack of a Millennial Fair. But wouldn't that mean that the 21st king of Guardia reigns now?"

Crono nodded, and Alphonse shot a worried glance at Alex. "So we've gone four hundred years in the past?!" he asked incredulously. "That's what that strange portal did to us?"

Edward nodded passively, having come to terms with this idea. With a name like _Chrono_ Trigger, it almost seemed like time travel would have been expected. "So, we know where and when we are... But where's Marle?"

The redhead protagonist shrugged, but looked up at Guardia Castle suggestively. The trio looked up at it as well. Alphonse suddenly came to a realization. "So this place is a kingdom..." he mumbled. "The kingdom of Guardia."

Alex slapped his own forehead. He hadn't explained that in advance.

* * *

They made their way through Guardia Forest to Guardia Castle. Alex half-expected to be attacked in the forest, but they were fortunately left alone. That was probably because they had stayed close to the trees in the clearings. That always avoided an encounter in Alex's experience with the game. 

Crono pushed open the large doors to the castle, and the quartet walked in. They were confronted by a large hall. Right in front of them was a staircase to another large door beyond, which probably led to the throne room. There were also halls to the sides. The color scheme was, for the most part, a deep violet.

One of the armored soldiers guarding the staircase shouted, "Halt! Who goes there!?" They approached them with bemused expressions. "Check out that hair!" one of them exclaimed, quickly indicating Crono and Alexander. Alex groaned loudly.

One looked up at Alphonse with wide eyes. "And that armor!" he shouted. Alphonse squirmed in place, looking embarrassed as much as a suit of armor can.

But their shock was cut short by Edward's presence. "And what's with the shorty?" the other muttered. Alexander and Alphonse quickly turned away.

"**Don't call me a flea circus performer!!**" Edward screamed suddenly, making the soldiers and Crono jump in fright. Alex sighed. Leave it to the passerby to cause an eruption unwittingly.

"Th-that wasn't what we said..." one of the soldiers muttered. They quickly regained their composure, and that man asked, "Where're you from, boys?" With a more serious tone, he growled, "Are you one of Magus's troopers?"

The other soldier guffawed at his comrade's suspicion. "Hardly! These kids never would have made the cut!" With a grin, he ordered, "Show us your stamp collection, boys!"

The first soldier also laughed to save face. "Har, har!" Then he became serious again. "Now beat it, shrimps!"

"**Who're you callin' a shrimp!?**" Edward was quick to retort at the top of his lungs. Alex didn't have a warning this time, so he was just as startled as the rest of them.

"Stop that at once!" a woman's voice called out from above them. The door beyond the staircase opened up, and a woman with a green dress and long orange hair descended the stairs halfway.

"Queen Leene!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, and they both kneeled before the woman.

The Queen glared at the soldiers. "Show your manners!" she snapped. "These are friends of mine!" Crono, Edward, and Alphonse did a take at the remark, but Alex merely took on a smirk.

One of the soldiers stood up. "But there's something odd about them!" he protested. His comrade seemed to share his suspicion.

The Queen took a good long look at both of them. "You refuse to obey my orders!?" she demanded incredulously.

The soldier went back to kneeling. "Forgive me, my lady!" Looking back at the quartet, he said, "Please enter, Sirs!"

Edward was still ticked about being called short on two occasions in as many minutes. "About time!" Looking up at the Queen, he said, "Thanks a lot!"

The Queen giggled childishly at the power at her disposal, and walked away. That sound confused the quartet immensely. Even Alex, who had been expecting something a little different. Perhaps it had been a little too long since his last run through the game.

As soon as the Queen had gone through the door to the throne room, the guards returned to their posts, and the quartet was allowed to move on. They entered the throne room, where King Guardia XXI sat on the tall throne. They saw that the room extended to two staircases in the back corners, which Alex remembered as leading to the King and Queen's quarters, respectively.

The Chancellor next to him took a good long look at the quartet. "Hmm..." he mumbled, before walking away. Alex noticed this, but said nothing.

"Sirs!" King Guardia hailed them. "I understand that you are the ones who saved my dear wife, the Queen!"

Alphonse started to shake his head. "Well, Your Majesty, actually..." He trailed off after Alex shot him a loaded look that told him to keep quiet for now.

The King ignored this, and said, "But can you tell me what happened? Leene's acting rather odd. And she seems to have lost her coral pin, which is something that she guarded with her life..." He suddenly shook his head vigorously. "Forgive me! You must be tired! We can talk about this later. Please rest in the Knights' quarters, downstairs, to the left."

Crono, a little surprised by being spoken to by historic royalty, nodded dumbly. Alexander nodded at the King as well and replied, "We thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty. But for now, we'd like to speak to Queen Leene." He couldn't help but grin a little. He was getting a little better better at addressing people formally.

A heavily armored knight guarding the right hand staircase stepped forward. "The Queen seems to be waiting for you upstairs in her room."

* * *

The quartet climbed the five flights of stairs to the Queen's chambers. It was a big castle, and it appeared that the royal chambers were at the very top. "Typical," Edward muttered for no apparent reason. 

A knight in front of the following passageway stepped aside. "The Queen awaits." They walked along the violet carpet, and opened the door to the bedroom. Two maids stood in the room, and the Queen was at the back of the room. When she heard the door opened, she looked in the party's direction and exclaimed, "Ah! There you are." She glanced at the attendants. "Please leave us," she ordered. "I must speak to these individuals."

"Certainly, Your Highness," one of the maids replied. They walked out of the room at length, and shut the door behind them.

Once they were left alone at last, the Queen sighed and said, "Come nearer, Sirs." Confused, the quartet took a step forward. Suddenly, the Queen giggled and looked away. When she looked back, she said, "Fooled you, didn't I, Crono?" At the others' surprised reactions, she announced, "It's me, Marle! But everyone calls me... Leene!"

She began to pace back and forth. "I'm so relieved you all are here! We barely know each other, but somehow, I knew you'd come for me..." She paused for a moment, then smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Crono! And Alex, Edward, and Alphonse!"

All of a sudden, the entire room took on a deep green hue, and Marle got a pained look on her face. "S-something's wrong!!!" she yelled. The quartet quickly looked around, but didn't find anything else unusual besides the strange color change. Marle suddenly clutched her stomach. "W-what's happening!?" she screamed. "It feels like... I'm being torn apart!"

A bright light surrounded her, and the quartet was quickly wary. "Help me, Crono!" Marle shouted as she held her head in worry. Every word came more pained than the last. "I'm scared!!! Please... Crono... h-help me!"

Crono tried to rush in to help her, but Marle suddenly... exploded into nothingness. There was no other description for it. She had existed one moment, then violently removed from that existence in the next. There was nothing left.

Edward and the others were absolutely stunned. Alex himself was disturbed by what had just transpired. The Fullmetal Alchemist turned on Alex and shouted, "Alright, Alex, what the hell just happened!? Where is she!?"

Alex winced from Edward's shouting. "Just give me a few more minutes!" he shouted back. "We can't let news of this get out yet, anyway! If the castle finds out that their Queen Leene is missing again, it'll be on all our heads!"

That news quickly quieted them down. Crono was still confused, but he took on a cold expression as they left the room. The attendants and the knight were gossiping at the end of the hall. One of the attendants noticed them and said, "She has dismissed you already? You were polite, of course?" After a moment, she tentatively asked, "You didn't do anything... _funny_, did you?"

Crono did a take at the suggestion. "Of course not!" he replied. It was half-true; they hadn't done anything. But something... _funny_ had happened to Marle indeed. The quartet left the hall and walked back down the stairs.

* * *

As they reached the bottom landing and re-entered the main hall, they heard a voice shouting, "Crono! Edward! Alphonse! Alexander!" 

It was Lucca running toward them. When she reached them, she fell to her knees and started breathing heavily. She had apparently run a long way; much longer than she was used to doing as an inventor. "Huff, huff... you're all okay!" she exclaimed after a moment. "Did you find the girl?"

Looking down at the ground, Crono quickly related the recent events. Lucca bolted back to her feet. "**Gone?!** Whadd'ya mean she's gone!?"

"She's gone!" Alphonse repeated. "She just... disappeared into thin air right before our eyes!"

Lucca sighed and turned away, appearing to be deep in thought. "Hmm... it's just as I thought," she remarked. Looking back at them, she shouted, "I knew I recognized her!" She looked at the walls of the castle's hall and added, "And this looks identical to the castle in **our** time!" Adjusting her glasses, she concluded, "I'll bet they mistook that girl for her ancestor... You see, she's a member of the royal family of **our** time! She's _Princess Nadia_!"

Crono did a humongous take. To Edward, however, this was only a confirmation to previous suspicions. Not that he knew anything about the Guardian royal family, but the resemblance was something he could easily grasp without Lucca's help. "Okay, so we've established that we're four hundred years in the past, and Marle... er, Nadia... was mistaken for the Queen because she looked similar." He paused to make his next point clear. "But why did she disappear?!"

Lucca looked back at him and smirked. "I'm getting to that. Marle, that is, Princess Nadia, is a descendant of Queen Leene! Queen Leene has been kidnapped. As I recall, someone was supposed to have saved her. But history has been changed!" She furrowed her brow, showing her frustration by this turn of events. "Marle looks so much like Leene, that they probably called off their search when she appeared here. But if the real Queen is killed..."

It was obvious enough for the rest of them. Queen Leene would not have given birth to a female heir like in the normal flow of time, and the royal family of Guardia would have ended there, four hundred years before Marle had a chance to enter that family. Marle had disappeared because, according to the new timeline, she hadn't even been born.

"...Marle will eventually disappear," Lucca confirmed. But her eyes flashed with newborn determination. "There might still be time! If we can save Leene, history as we know it will remain unchanged!"

Alphonse nodded vigorously. "Something must have happened to the Queen in this era!" he declared, voicing the thoughts of the rest of them. "As a result, Princess Nadia ceased to exist!"

Alex also nodded. "Let's hurry! We have to find the real Queen!"

Lucca scowled. "Not so fast, you!" she shouted, pointing at Alexander. "You aren't surprised by this at all, are you? You're not fooling me! Even when Marle disappeared in the Telepod, you didn't even blink! It's like you _expected_ this to happen!" She paused for a moment, her glare boring a hole in Alex's head. "Who are you?"

Edward and Alphonse glanced at Alexander, who could only sigh. "Well, if someone was to figure it out, it would be you." Lucca's expression didn't change even after the compliment. Alex continued, saying, "Well, since you doubt my innocence in this matter, it should be easier to explain the truth than previous times."

Alex launched into the explanation. "I'm something called an Interference. Someone who ends up entering a video game universe and ends up slightly interfering with events there."

Lucca cut him off. "Video game universe? You don't mean..." She trailed off at the realization, but she did her best to keep on track of what Alex was saying. "So you're implying that these events are just some... _game_?"

Alphonse shook his head. "Not really. Now that there's an Interference here, it's a reality. But Alex had played through your game, Chrono Trigger, a couple of times before. So, yes, he knows in advance what's going to happen."

Crono looked confused by the game's name. Edward smirked. "_Chrono_ Trigger. You know, as in 'time'."

Alex gestured at his comrades. "My friends here are actually from a different game universe, which is a world of alchemy called Amestris. I, myself, first became an Interference in a game called Kingdom Hearts II, where I gained this weapon, the Lockshield." On that cue, he summoned the Lockshield out of darkness.

Lucca's glare didn't falter much. "But _why_ are you here? Why are you in this game universe? Are you just some fanboy who's mucking about in random worlds!?"

Alexander smirked at the reference, but shook his head. "No... I'm here because... well, there's a group of powerful people who also know about the Interference phenomenon. I defeated one of the five of them, and I was assured they would be waiting for me in another universe. So I'm looking for them here. I don't have much choice."

That seemed to be enough for Lucca. "I can tell there's more," she started, "but we don't have much time for anything else. We'd better find Queen Leene now!"

"Good," Alex replied. "If I remember correctly, she's being held in a cathedral to the southwest." He began to run. "Let's get this world's history back on track!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	4. Monsters and Magic

Chapter 4  
Monsters and Magic

As Alex had described, there was an old cathedral in the forest clearing southwest of Guardia Castle. He led the way through the large doors as they entered the chapel. The cathedral looked pretty authentic; it reminded Alex of pictures he'd seen of cathedrals in the real world's seventeenth century. Stained glass windows and all.

Three nuns sat in the chapel, and one stood at the organ at the back. As the party of Crono, Lucca, Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander passed by, they all thought they looked innocent enough. However, the nuns' remarks to them seemed to raise suspicion.

"We want nothing but world peace..." one had muttered to herself. "Or a piece of the world, teehee..."

"People wouldn't know what to do with themselves in a truly peaceful world!" another had remarked. Then she saw the party, and exclaimed, "My, what delicious, er... I mean, _delightful_ looking humans!"

The third one sitting at the front looked over to them. "You might like to stick around for the organ recital," she offered. "It's a real killer!"

The fourth one who was standing at the organ watched as they approached. "Oh dear! It looks like you could use some food and a place to... rest!"

Confused, the party met along the stairs leading to the altar. "What the hell?" Edward muttered under hushed tones. "These people are almost as bad as the ones in Leto... Well, then again, they aren't trying to kill us."

_**Just wait,**_ Joumae said with a chuckle.

Lucca took a look around. "It doesn't look like the Queen could be held here. Perhaps you remembered incorrectly, Alexander. Let's look elsewhere..." But she trailed off, her gaze fixated on Crono.

Crono had knelt down and picked up something off the steps to the altar. "What did you find?" Alphonse asked curiously. Crono paled and handed it over to Lucca, who examined it.

"A hair pin," Lucca decided. It was a coral pin, indeed. There was something etched in the head of the pin, which Lucca promptly investigated. She gasped and did a take. "That's Guardia's royal crest!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the chapel.

Out of nowhere, the four nuns quickly and silently met together behind them, standing in a line. The party looked curiously at them, but Alex had his guard up. To the shock of Crono and Lucca, the nuns were each suddenly engulfed in a blue flame which covered their bodies for a moment. After that tense moment, the fire died out and revealed the figures beneath it. Their lower halves had become serpentine, and the top part was that of a young woman, albeit a woman with pink hair, long ears, and a forked tongue. And don't forget the claws.

"Naga-ettes!" Alex declared, summoning the Heartless Seal. Crono and Lucca jumped back and readied themselves. Crono drew his sword, while Lucca hesitantly reached for some type of air gun. The inventor was apparently the newest to fighting.

Alexander tried charging at one of them. That Naga-ette made some strange hand gestures, and sent a few phantom heart symbols flying toward him, which floated around his head for a moment and disappeared. Alex suddenly felt his body become heavy, like he was trying to run through water. The whole world around him was suddenly moving faster than he was. Or, more accurately, he was moving slower. Alex scowled, though the action was drawn out. The darn Naga-ette had casted a Slow spell on him. _So this is what it's like,_ he thought to himself with more than a little contempt.

From his slowed point of view, he saw the others fighting as well. Lucca tried firing at the enemies with her air gun, though the short bursts did little damage. Crono tried slashing at them, but they moved away as gracefully as a half-serpent could. It was Edward and Alphonse who eventually were able to defeat the Naga-ettes with a few well placed punches and kicks. The enemies' bodies turned red and faded away.

Lucca sighed, put her gun away, and adjusted her glasses. "Phew! That was close!" Then, at that precise moment, another Naga-ette appeared in blue flames and slashed at Lucca with its claws. "Aack!" she exclaimed as she was thrown aside.

All of a sudden, a green figure dropped from the ceiling and cut the creature with a large broadsword. The Naga-ette screamed and faded away. The party was rather shocked, including Alexander. It was readily apparent that their savior was nothing other than a large _frog_ wearing armor and a cape.

"What the hell?" Edward exclaimed again.

"Lower thine guard and thou'rt allowing the enemy in," the frog remarked, shocking them once again. As the others recovered from the surprise, the frog sheathed its sword and ribbited. "Thou'rt here to save the Queen?" it asked. "The lair is deep within. Will thee accompany me?"

Lucca stood up, ignoring her wound. Admittedly, it wasn't a very serious wound. Hardly even worth a Potion. "A... a **frog!**?" she shouted, still not getting over that very obvious fact. "Guys, it's a talking **frog**! I hate frogs!"

The frog made something of a sigh. "My guise doth not incur thy trust..." it muttered, nodding sadly as if he'd been through this before. "Very well, do as thee please. But I shall save the Queen." He began heading toward the cathedral's exit.

Alphonse finally recovered. "W-wait!" he called after the frog. When it stopped, Alphonse started to say, "You don't seem like a bad... uh, person-frog-thing... I mean..."

Lucca seemed to agree with this, but turned to Crono. "Crono! What should we do?"

The protagonist thought about this for a moment, but finally replied, "Go with the frog."

Lucca sighed. "I'll just have to handle it!" she muttered. Catching herself, she quickly added, "I mean... deal with... him!"

Edward looked toward the frog curiously. "What's your name?" he inquired, more curious than surprised now. Alexander merely remained silent, shaking his head vigorously to recover from the Slow spell.

After a moment's consideration, the frog replied, "Frog will do."

Alex nodded, having finally recovered. "Alright... Nice to meet you, Frog. I'm Alexander." Indicating the Elrics, Alex told him, "That's Edward and his little brother Alphonse." Gesturing at the other Chrono Trigger characters, he added, "And that's Crono and Lucca."

Frog nodded at the names. Thinking for a moment, he said, "Mayhap a hidden door lurks nigh? Let us search the environs." And, with that being said, four sets of eyes turned to Alexander.

Alex sighed at the sudden attention. "Good idea." Trying to seem innocent, he remarked, "Well, that organ looks suspicious enough. Let's check over there." They all followed him over to the organ, waiting expectantly. There were a few sheets of music on the organ, but they only displayed one line repeating, with only a few notes.

It had been a long while since he'd played anything resembling a piano, but Alex tried his best to guess the keys. He struck a few chords, holding them for as long as the music sheet described. Alex was suddenly cut off by a rumbling sound to their right. A section of the stone wall lifted up, revealing a door leading to the rest of the cathedral. Frog smirked. "Good work, lad!"

* * *

As soon as they opened the door, Alex motioned for the others to be quiet. "These halls will probably be infested with monsters," Alexander muttered, summoning the Lockshield and switching it to the Crimson Catalyst. Peering around the corner, he found a long hallway, in which several gargoyle-like creatures were patrolling. Diablos, they were called. 

"If the rest of the cathedral knows there's intruders, they might kill Queen Leene before we get to her," Alex remarked as he pulled his head back before the Diablos saw him.

Alphonse looked surprised. "Did that happen... y'know, before?" He was reluctant to ask about the game, considering that Frog had not been made aware yet.

Alex shook his head. "No... But in the reality of it all, we can't leave out those kinds of factors." It was true. With the presence of Interferences, the characters' actions could take a whole different turn.

Lucca pulled out her gun. "So... we get rid of the monsters quickly and move on?"

Crono and Frog tried to draw their swords as quietly as they could, but the incessant hiss of the blades along the sheaths put everyone on edge. "Make haste, Alexander," Frog advised, "lest we not arrive in time."

The Interference looked down at his left hand. Beneath the gray fingerless glove was, in fact, another full glove. It was the ignition glove that Colonel Roy Mustang had given him near the end of his second adventure. With the Crimson Catalyst design being used, he could copy the Flame Alchemist's fire technique. He looked back at the Diablos, which were meeting in the middle. Alex quickly imagined a trail in the air leading to the monsters and snapped his left hand. In the span of a few moments, a spark traveled through the air and caused an explosion just between the three creatures, throwing them against the walls and defeating them.

The others, thoroughly startled by the explosion, all glared at Alex. "Sneak around, my ass!" Edward cursed, just as another Diablo fell down from the ceiling behind them. Crono and Frog simultaneously slashed the Diablo in an X pattern, and the dual technique destroyed it as well. A couple more came down from the other end of the hall. Edward transmuted a lance out of the ground and stabbed one of the Diablos, while Alphonse used a series of well-placed kicks against the other.

When all the fighting was over, Lucca put her air gun in the holster at her hip and said, "So you... _transmuted_ the oxygen in the air?"

Even in his annoyed state, Edward was impressed. "How did you figure that out?" he asked, voicing the question on the rest of the party's mind.

Lucca shrugged as if it was nothing. "The only way you can achieve a spontaneous combustion is to cause a spark within highly concentrated air. But no science on this world can concentrate it like that..." she admitted with a sigh. She was obviously reluctant to accept her existence within a game, though she was aware of the evidence supporting it.

Crono gave her a surprised look. Lucca smirked back at him. "Yeah, I guess I have to admit that they're from another world."

Frog was the most surprised of them all. Indicating the Elrics and Alexander, he asked, "Dost thou imply they hail from worlds other than ours?"

Crono looked at him and nodded. Alphonse said, "We're from a world called Amestris. We're alchemists, so we can transmute things like Alex just did."

Alexander began to say something, but trailed off. "And I..." He paused for a moment, but then said, "Well, I've been to many worlds. Worlds within game universes. It's not too important right now," he interjected, deciding to get back on track. "Let's get back to the rescue mission."

They passed through the door on the other side of the corridor, entering the main hall. There were stairways on the sides leading to more rooms, but Alex knew that their objective was down the red carpeted path between the two balconies. They only got as far as the carpeted area before they were attacked again. Another Diablo, accompanied by two large purple serpents called Gnashers. Alex clapped his hands and placed them on his Lockshield, extending the blade on one side until it closed into a sharp point about a foot away from the original rim of the shield.

The Diablo charged at Alex, but he cut it with the extended blade of the Lockshield before it got too close. The Diablo passed by with a large cut across its chest, but turned around and struck again. Alex rammed his foot into its stomach and flipped backward, ramming the monster into the ground with his foot. The creature finally turned to red and faded away.

Lucca drew her gun and fired upon one of the Gnashers. The serpent recoiled, not at all resistant against the focused blasts of air. After a couple more shots, the Gnasher faded away. The other monster lashed out at Edward, teeth bared. Edward merely held out his right arm, and the Gnasher tried to sink its teeth into it. But there was a clinking sound as the snake's teeth met a solid resistance. Edward scowled at the monster. "Nice try..." he muttered, before slamming his left leg into it, defeating it.

The sleeve of Edward's clothing was ripped up a little, revealing some of the silver color beneath it. Before the Chrono Trigger crew could ask, Edward shouted, "Let's keep moving!" and ran off.

Alphonse wasn't completely surprised by Edward's sudden movement to hurry. "Wait up, Ed!" he shouted, running after his brother. Confused, the others kept up the chase.

Once they were halfway through the main hall, there was a scratchy voice that shouted, "Stop! Intruders! _Gack!!!_" Two more Gnashers came down from the stairs ahead, and a pair of Diablos jumped down from the balconies. They were surrounded.

But Edward wasn't stopping. "Get out of the way!" he yelled, knocking one of the Gnashers aside with a roundhouse kick, then continuing to run without missing a beat. Alex changed his shield to the Heartless Seal and shouted, "_Blizzaga_!" He formed a large set of ice crystals in front of the Lockshield and fired them at the monster. The unexpected elemental attack cut past its defense and destroyed it.

_**So **_**that's****_ why Magic Defense was such an important stat,_** Joumae muttered, calling upon Alexander's memories of playing the game.

Crono, Lucca, and Frog stopped to face the Diablos. Alex rolled his eyes. The turn-based battle engine was not nearly as active as the platforming engines of the previous two games. No doubt that the lack of movement was reflected in the characters' own fighting styles. This would be a hard transition.

"Just attack as you pass the next time we're in a hurry!" he yelled, running back to them. Not that he needed to help out. Crono spun around one of the Diablos, slashing it as he circled around it. _The Cyclone technique,_ Alex thought.

Frog stuck out his long frog tongue and snagged one of the Diablos, pulling it in. Moving very quickly, Frog cleaved the snagged monster in two with his sword. _The Slurp Cut technique,_ Alex remembered. Basic techs from the game that were being brought out into reality. What nostalgia.

By now, the Elrics had already taken care of two Gnashers at the top landing of the stairs. "Crono! Everyone, hurry up!" Alphonse called after them. The party immediately regrouped and walked through the next door.

Now they were confronted with several paths in the next room, all of which Alex knew wouldn't take them completely forward. There was one door in front of them, and two staircases leading back down at the sides, which led to one more door each. He had to think this through quickly. A splitting up was in order. "Ed, Al!" Alex shouted. "Go down the right hand stairs and look for a skull-shaped switch."

Edward and Alphonse knew that Alex knew what he was talking about, so they immediately complied. Alexander turned toward the rest of them. Frog was the first to say, "Dare I ask, why art thou quick to make commands?"

Alex smiled at him, though it was a tad bit forced. "There's a hidden door that leads to the Queen. Since I have seen this happen before, I know where it is. And since there is more of us, we can split up and take care of everything at once without the worry of being overpowered. Now come on!" he shouted, running toward the middle door.

Alex slammed the door open. Inside was another altar spot, but there was a mass of spikes stretching across the middle of the room. There was also another organ on the other side of the spikes. Three fat yellow humanoid creatures in heavy blue armor sneered at them from the other side of the spikes. Henches.

However, there was a clicking sound, and the spikes returned to the ground. This happened much to the Henches' surprise. Alex grinned. "Good going, Fullmetal!"

Knowing that their advantage was gone, the Henches got into a fighting stance. Two Diablos dropped down from the ceiling as well. Alex, however, had a plan. He put forth the Lockshield and shouted, "_Magnega_!" A dark sphere of magnetic energy appeared in the middle of the room, and the monsters were immediately drawn to it. In an almost comical fashion, all five creatures collided into each other within the sphere pretty hard. With some damage coming from the magnetic field added on, this was enough to defeat all of the creatures.

"What are these techniques you're using?" Lucca asked suddenly as they ran across where the spikes had been. They reached the other side of the small room, and gathered around the organ. It looked exactly like the one out in the chapel. It even had the same music posted upon it.

"Magic I gained from the video game Kingdom Hearts II," Alex responded, his hands hovering over the keys. After a moment for recollection, he played the exact same tune he had tried outside of the secret passage. When he was finished, there was a crashing sound, which was accompanied by the passive sound of stone moving against stone. Another secret passage had been opened.

The party of four left the room and began to descend the other staircase. However, as soon as all of them had trusted their weight to it, the stairs collapsed and formed a steep downward ramp. All four of them slid down rather unorthodoxly, landing at the bottom in a heap. There wasn't much chance of getting back up now.

There had been a Hench guarding that staircase, but it was asleep. Fast asleep. They passed by it and opened the door to the small room ahead. The room was almost filled with strange bat creatures. But with some fancy footwork, the blind bats never noticed them as they passed around them. The group reached the next door and entered a long hallway. It was completely clear, save for two alchemists.

"Well?" Edward asked sarcastically, jabbing his thumb at the newly revealed door next to him. "What took you so long?"

* * *

"Prepare yourself, Queen Leene," a voice muttered as the party walked into the last room. It was a particularly large room, with only a few features. There was a chair and a desk with stained glass windows behind it. Two treasure chests of sorts were at the sides of the rooms. 

The Chancellor from Guardia Castle sat at the desk. He looked wide-eyed at the party. "**You!** How did you get in here?" he growled, being the voice they'd heard moments before.

There was also a woman with orange hair in a blue dress standing in front of the table. "Marle?" Alphonse mumbled, but didn't follow through. This woman was much older than Marle, but there was an incredible similarity. Nonetheless, this was the real Queen Leene.

Leene turned around, gasping at the sight of the frog in the party. "Frog!" she cried out, sounding distressed.

Frog hopped forward and knelt on one knee in her presence. "Majesty, stand back and allow us the honor!" Following his cue, the others brought out their weapons and got into battle stances.

Leene nodded. "Be careful!" she warned them before running out of the room.

The short Chancellor got out of the chair and walked around to the other side of the desk. "Gyah, ha, ha... It's useless to fight! No one else will leave here alive!" He glared at Frog. "Stupid frog! It's time you jumped off this mortal coil! True-form... **change**!"

The Chancellor began to spin around, though he wasn't moving his feet. Electricity sparked from his body, forcing the fighters to step back. After a bright flash, the Chancellor they knew had disappeared. Instead, there was a large, strange monster that seemed like a cross between a bear and an insect.

"That's right! I had forgotten!" Alex shouted. "The fake Chancellor reverts to Yakra!!"

The battle began. Yakra leaped forward and tackled Alphonse, knocking him back. "Al!" Edward shouted after his brother. But the Chrono Trigger characters were suddenly more surprised than worried. Alphonse's helmet had somehow gained more momentum than his body had, and it had fallen off. After a couple of tumbles, the inside of Alphonse's armor was revealed. Or, more befittingly, the lack of it.

"Empty!?" Frog exclaimed, but shook his head vigorously to change his focus. He brought his sword up and slashed down on Yakra, then slashed upward again. Yakra yelled out in pain, but didn't look too fazed. Instead, he started crawling around, running over all of the fighters at one point or another. When he finally stopped, everyone had taken a bit of damage.

"_Curaga_!" Alex shouted, holding the Lockshield up. A green light surrounded his comrades, healing the wounds they had sustained. The color made it obvious to Yakra what kind of spell was being used, and it seemed to annoy him. He started his charge again.

But Edward wasn't having any of that again. He clapped his hands and placed one of them on his right wrist. Out of blue sparks, he transmuted his metal arm into a blade right above his hand.

This surprised the Chrono Trigger protagonists even further. Lucca was just shocked. "Metal limbs...?"

Alex saw the armblade and got an idea. He changed the Lockshield to the Crimson Catalyst and lengthened the blade with alchemy. "Edward!" he shouted, tossing the shield at Edward, who caught it. Edward slipped his hand through the handle until both his arm blade and the shield's blade were matched together.

"Over here, Alphonse!" Edward yelled to his brother, who had now found his helmet and was able to get back in the action. Alphonse ran over to Edward, put down his hands, and gave Edward a boost high up into the air. Edward soared over Yakra, poising both blades he was holding. With a shout, Edward thrust both blades at the monster, using the force of gravity on his side. They stabbed right into Yakra's back, slicing clean through.

Yakra roared, and Edward dislodged the blades. The alchemist jumped off Yakra's back just as he became surrounded by a bright white light. The light flashed through the room a couple of times, and the monster faded away in that light until he was completely gone. Yakra had been defeated.

Lucca, excited by the victory, holstered her gun and thrust her hand into the air. Crono smirked and sheathed his sword, also assuming a victory pose. Frog smirked and, just for the fun of making a victory pose, pretended to flex a muscle in his arm. Alex dismissed his shield and rested his hands on the back of his head. Edward jumped up to high-five Alphonse.

Victory poses aside, Leene returned from the hallway and faced the adventurers. "You came to rescue me!" she exclaimed, awed by their bravery. "Thank you, Frog." Okay, maybe just Frog's bravery.

Frog knelt down in her presence once more. "The King awaits," he stated, doing his best to ignore the praise. "Let us return to the castle." He turned back toward the party and ribbited. "I thank thee Crono, Lucca, Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander."

Leene nodded at them. "Yes, thank you so much. Please join us."

Edward grinned. "Now that's more like it! Time for a royal celebration!" Laughing, he and his brother, along with the rest of the Chrono Trigger crew, started to leave the room. Alex stayed behind, however. There was one thing left...

He walked over to the treasure chest on the left hand side of the table. After a moment's hesitation, he tapped the lid with the Heartless Seal. The treasure chest was flung open, and out came... _the real Chancellor!_

The Chancellor flopped out, scaring the wits out of Alex. He was bound by a length of rope. "Phew, thank you!" the real Chancellor exclaimed. "That monster stuffed me in there." Alex untied the rope, and the Chancellor finally noticed Queen Leene about to leave the room. "Oh! Your Highness!" he called after her. "As you can see, I am undamaged!"

Alex watched with a weird look as the Chancellor did his best to catch up with the rest of them. He glanced at the treasure chest, then the Chancellor again. The chest was much smaller, but... "Oh well," he muttered in resignation. Joumae chuckled in his mind. **_The game has to keep some of its strange qualities, right Alex?_**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	5. Mysteries of the Ages

Chapter 5  
Mysteries of the Ages

At last, the entire party was gathered in Castle Guardia's throne room. King Guardia approached Queen Leene. "You had me worried, Leene," he admitted.

The Chancellor stepped forward with a scowl on his face. "That no-good Yakra! Impersonating me and kidnapping the Queen! We **must** create a criminal justice system in this kingdom to do away with such fiends."

Alphonse shrugged. "Well, all's well that ends well. We're glad to have been of some assistance, Your Majesties."

Frog ribbited, and all eyes turned to him. "I failed to protect the Queen," he muttered, his tone full of shame. "I hath disgraced thee." He started to walk out of the throne room.

Leene called after him. "Frog!" At this, the frog turned to her, knelt for a moment, then resumed his exit, closing the door behind him. Nonetheless, the rest of the party followed him, and met him at the top of the staircase.

Frog sighed. "'Twas a fault of mine, which endangered the Queen. I shall depart for good." He started to walk down the stairs, but turned back to face the party. With a smirk, he said, "Crono, you hath potential to be a good swordsman!" Shifting his gaze to Alexander and the Elrics, he added, "I hope to hear the rest of thy story later, brothers Elric. Judging by the statements Alexander hath made, I imagine we may meet again." And, without any other comment, he opened the doors and left the castle.

Crono and Lucca looked sad to see him go. "...Froggy, you weren't such a bad guy either," Lucca said quietly. They returned to the throne room, where they struck up conversation with the royalty again.

"Your timing was perfect," Queen Leene remarked. "Who knows what would have happened had you not saved me! By the way, where is the girl who was mistaken for me?"

Crono suddenly got a shocked look on his face. Lucca also seemed to share his worry. "Oh, yeah! I forgot all about Princess Nadia!" Turning to her fellow protagonist, she shouted, "Crono! Where did Princess Nadia disappear? She may still be there!"

Crono thought about it for a moment, then nodded to himself and led the way back up the stairs to the queen's chambers.

* * *

The first thing they saw as Crono threw the chamber doors open was particles of light gathering in the back of the room, precisely where Marle had disappeared. As the lights came together, there was a large flash, and Marle suddenly reappeared in her normal clothes. "Huh?" she mumbled, dazed from the time paradox. "What happened?"

Lucca took a few steps forward. "Princess Nadia!"

Marle ignored this for the moment, having first seen her old friends. "Crono! Alex! Ed! Al!" She ran over to them, but that action seemed a bit exhausting for her considering her condition, and she fell to her knees. "It was awful..." she moaned. "I can't recall it all... I was somewhere cold, dark... and lonely. Is that what it's like to... die?"

Lucca offered a hand to help her up. "Welcome back, Princess Nadia," she greeted her warmly and reverently.

Marle took the inventor's hand and got back on her feet. "You risked your life to help me, too!?" Then the full statement struck her. "'Princess... Nadia...'?! Uh, oh..." She glanced at the rest of the party, the shortest of which was giving her a glare. Marle giggled a little. "I guess you guys figured it out, huh?"

She sighed, the mirth gone from her expression. "Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to deceive you." Marle began to pace through the room. "I'm Princess Nadia," she admitted. "My father's King Guardia the XXXIII. I really enjoyed being with you all at the fair. But if you had known my identity..." She turned back to face them. "Crono, you wouldn't have shown me around the fair, right?"

Crono smiled at her. "Wrong!" he replied.

Marle cheered. "Oh, Crono! That's why I like you!"

Edward scowled even deeper, but Alex gave him a nudge to keep quiet. Alex cleared his throat, and said, "Well, the real Queen's safe, so I guess it's time to take you guys home."

* * *

And so, the party left Guardia Castle and, following Lucca's suggestion, hiked back to Truce Canyon. Little had changed since Crono and the others had left. The Green Imps were still kicking the Roly Poly back and forth, and paid the party no mind. However, as soon as they started climbing the hill to the bridge, they were suddenly ambushed by a Green Imp and a regular brown Poly creature.

Crono unsheathed his sword, Lucca brought out her air gun, Alex summoned the Heartless Seal, and the Elrics adopted fighting stances. Marle took off the crossbow that was strapped to her back and brandished it. She aimed and fired a bolt at the Green Imp, which hit the monster dead on.

Edward charged forward and landed a few punches on the Poly, knocking it back a foot or so. Then Crono rushed in and stabbed it with his blade, defeating it. On the other side, Alexander ran up to the Green Imp and slashed it vertically, forcing it to go red and fade away.

Marle cheered. "Woohoo! My first battle!"

The elder Elric rolled his eyes. "That's right... This is a first for you, isn't it? Geez..."

The princess gave him a questioning look. "Well, now that you mention it... you, your brother, and Alexander seem to have a lot of experience in this department. Just where are you guys from, anyway?"

Lucca sighed to herself. "Let's save those questions for when we get to the Gate." Crono shot her a confused look at the last word, and she suddenly smiled. "Oh, right! I haven't told you guys about that yet!" She paused, and looked disdainfully in Alex's direction. "Though I bet you already know, don't you?"

Alex grinned. "Why wouldn't I?" The rest of the curious party followed Lucca and Alex's lead across the bridge and back to the clearing where they had appeared in this time. Strangely enough, there was a strange black orb sitting in the air in the middle of the clearing, from the center of which a small light was peeking through.

Marle looked around curiously. "How do we get back home?"

Lucca started to explain, but got held up on formalities. "Your Highness, er, Princess... we..."

Marle rolled her eyes and threw her hands up into the air. "Please call me Marle!"

The inventor nodded, and smiled again. "Well then, Marle... Observe!" She pulled out from her pocket a strange wand-like object, which was adorned at the end with a five-pronged star. She twirled it a little, and pointed it at the strange orb. The wand began to spark, and, all of a sudden, the orb expanded, revealing a shining portal. In fact, it was exactly like the one that had taken Marle in the Telepod.

Even Edward was impressed by the display. "Wow!" he exclaimed, as shocked as the others.

Marle was especially impressed. "Lucca! You're amazing!" she praised her.

Lucca laughed out loud at the compliment. "Ain't it the truth!" she joked to herself. Then she caught herself in her own pride, and mumbled, "Oh, um... I mean..."

Marle shook her head insistently. "Enough with the false modesty! You have a real gift! I would trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!"

Lucca sighed, suddenly not so sure of herself. "Well, if you say so..." Shaking her head to change her focus, she continued, "Anyway, I call this thing a 'Gate.' It's a kind of portal that takes you to the same location in a different era. Gates are very unstable, so I used the principle behind my Telepod device..." She procured the strange wand again. "...to create a 'Gate Key.' Now we can use them as we please."

Edward still had a question on his mind. "But why did this Gate suddenly appear?" he wondered aloud, referring to the first appearance of it back at the fairgrounds.

Alexander grimaced. "Either the Telepod had something to do with it, or... something else made it."

Lucca scowled at the Interference. "Hey! Stop cutting into my explanations! I don't care if you know in advance."

Marle suddenly looked confused. "Huh? Why would Alexander know about this stuff in advance?"

The rest of the party exchanged a glance. Crono shrugged, and gestured at Alphonse. Actually, he seemed to be gesturing toward Alphonse's helmet. The armored brother suddenly looked flustered. "You mean...?"

Edward nodded. "Yeah. Might as well explain things now. We said we would, anyway." He started to lift up his right sleeve, revealing the automail arm that had been hidden before. Alphonse took off his helmet, showing that there was no head occupying it.

Marle did a take. "Wha... What the heck!? What are you guys?! Metal limbs? An armor without a body? What's going on?"

Edward lowered the sleeve and sighed. "We're... from another world, called Amestris. In that world, there's a science called alchemy. Using alchemy, you can theoretically understand anything, decompose it, and recompose it as something else."

Alphonse nodded, placing the helmet back on. "But there are laws to alchemy. One of which being Equivalent Exchange. Another being a taboo against human transmutation."

Edward scowled. "We ignored both of those laws several years ago... Our mother had died recently, and we wanted to bring her back to life through alchemy. It... didn't turn out well at all."

Alexander cut in. "Equivalent Exchange came into effect, and Edward ended up losing his left leg, and Alphonse his entire body. Thinking quickly after that, Edward used alchemy to bind Alphonse's soul to a nearby suit of armor, but that act cost him his right arm."

Edward nodded, and continued his narrative. "These mechanical limbs are called automail. Our... close friends were experts in making automail, and they fitted me with these."

Marle was shocked speechless. Crono was shocked, but speechless by nature. Lucca was also shocked, though she was the first to ask questions. "Still, that seems to have been a pretty hefty price. Surely you mother must have..."

Alexander shook his head. "Their mother looked anything but human after the transmutation." This shocked them into silence once again.

A few more moments went by in silence, save for the quiet hum of the open Gate beside them. After a while, Marle said, "Well... what about Alex? Is he... also from Amestris? Was he there when... _that_ happened?"

Lucca decided it was her turn to explain. "No... You see, it seems that these events going on here... were originally part of a video game in Alex's world; the real world, that is. He ended up creating this game universe for some reason, and he brought in the Elrics from another video game he'd been a part of."

Alexander nodded, glad that Lucca had been the one to explain. "I guess you could say I'm an Interference."

Marle glanced at Crono, who nodded to confirm what had been said. She remained silent for a moment... then jumped up high into the air, cheering. "Woohoo!" she cried out, startling everyone else. "I'm a character in a role-playing game! Sweet!!"

Alex's jaw literally dropped. Of all the reactions that could have been done, this one had been the absolute least likely to happen. _**Excitement? No one else was excited about their lives being part of a kid's game,**_ Joumae muttered, just as dumbfounded as everyone else.

Alphonse was the first to cope with Marle's acceptance. "Well, to each their own..." he remarked, trying to get the others out of their shocked stupor.

Alex nodded and shut his mouth. Marle stopped cheering and folded her arms thoughtfully, though she was still grinning. "This is getting pretty weird. Automail, alchemy, Interferences... Let's at least head back to our own time!"

Lucca nodded and smirked. "Alright! Coming, Crono?" Crono gave her a withering glare, and they all jumped into the Gate. Taking one last glance at the world of the past, they watched as the Gate closed behind them.

* * *

They traveled through the passage of space and time for a while before the portal opened up again. All six comrades were launched from the Gate, landing relatively safely. Edward was surprised immensely. "Hey! We landed on our feet this time!"

Marle looked around, and cheered again. They were definitely back in Leene Square, and the Millennial Fair was still going on. Even the Telepod was still there. "Phew! We're back!" Glancing at her friends, she said, "Crono, Lucca, everyone, why don't you come home with me to the castle? I'd like you to come over for dinner!"

Alexander groaned, and every pair of eyes present was instantly on him. Groaning again because of his mistake, Alex said, "That might not be such a good idea. Don't you think your father would've noticed that you're not at the castle by now?"

Marle didn't see the significance. "I guess. Why would that be bad?"

Alphonse got Alex's point. "The King doesn't let you out much, does he? At this point, I'll bet he's probably... suspecting a kidnapping."

It dawned on Crono, who suddenly paled. Lucca nodded knowingly. "If we show up with you at the castle's front door, they might suspect that we are the kidnappers." She looked a little solemn. "Sorry for putting you through all that, Marle," she apologized. She had a point; in a way, it was her work that had sent Marle through the Gate in the first place.

The princess giggled. "Are you joking? This is the most fun I've had in months! And I have some new friends, too!"

Lucca nodded, and looked toward the boys of the party. "Crono, Alex, Ed, Al, escort her home like gentlemen. I'm sure you guys can handle whatever comes up. I've got some work to do."

The inventor ran out of that section of the fairgrounds, and Marle waved after her. "See you soon, Lucca!" After a moment, she looked back to the boys and said, "Will you escort me home, guys?"

Edward scowled once again. "What if Alex is right, though? What if we get falsely accused of kidnapping royalty?"

Marle giggled. "Oh, you boys are so melodramatic! Believe me, I'll explain things to my dad when we get home. Besides, you guys _saved_ me, not kidnapped me! For that, I at least owe you guys a royal feast!" she added with a loud laugh.

This seemed to suit the others fine, but Alexander wasn't so convinced. Oh well, at least he had given it a shot. Then again, the next events might prove to be essential to what was supposed to happen anyway. _**In hindsight, it had been pointless to try and warn them anyway, wasn't it?**_ Joumae mused.

Alex couldn't help but sigh as he and the others followed Marle's lead out of the fair. It was time to visit the present day Guardia Castle.

* * *

Marle opened the large doors to the castle. Guardia Castle didn't look too different than it had been four hundred years ago. But now, the soldiers guarding the staircase were wearing military uniforms rather than medieval armor.

"Princess Nadia!" a voice came from above the staircase. The present day Chancellor came running down to meet her. "Are you alright? Where have you been!? I heard you were abducted! We had soldiers searching for you!" He saw Crono, Alex, Edward, and Alphonse, and immediately glared at them. "Scoundrels! You're the ones, huh? Kidnapping Princess Nadia!"

Marle shook her head, rather winded by how quickly things had progressed. "No! They're..."

"Admit it!" the Chancellor shouted, jumping up and down like a fool to exaggerate his point. "You confused her and tried to take over the throne! Terrorist!!"

Alexander suddenly remembered the past Chancellor's words: _"We __**must**__ create a criminal justice system in this kingdom to do away with such fiends."_ It would seem that the justice so far wasn't a very wise one in this kingdom, even after four hundred years of developing it.

"S-stop it!" Marle shouted, trying to get a word in edgewise. But it didn't seem to do any good, for more soldiers were rallying to capture the four boys. A good eight or ten of them had arrived before Marle had given up and simply screamed at the top of her lungs, "**Stop this at once!!**"

The effect was astounding. The soldiers each fell to one knee all at once, obeying the princess's command. The Chancellor, however, was angered even further. "What are you doing!?" he demanded of the soldiers.

"But Princess Nadia said to..." one of them started to explain pitifully.

The Chancellor started jumping madly again. "Idiots!" he screamed. "Detain them!!" This seemed to do the trick, for all of the soldiers immediately got up and moved to capture the quartet again. Before they knew it, Crono had been knocked out by a couple of them.

Marle gasped. "Crono!!"

Alexander placed his hands up in the air as a sign of surrender as the soldiers moved on to the rest of them. "Don't resist," he warned the alchemists to his sides. "There's not much point this time." Reluctantly, Edward and Alphonse surrendered peacefully to the soldiers as well.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	6. Trial and Error

Chapter 6  
Trial and Error

The courtroom was an elaborately designed place. In the background was a stained glass mural of an old main with a scroll tucked under one arm and a scale held in the other hand. Right in front of that was a huge box in which the judge was seated. The violet-robed jury sat in the balconies above the round room. In the balconies to the sides of the door was an audience chamber for people to watch the trial. In the very center was a platform on which the defendant would stand.

On the right hand side of the judge was the Chancellor, who stepped forward. "I'm the Chancellor, the prosecutor!" he declared arrogantly.

A formally dressed man standing at the judge's left stepped forward. "I'm the lawyer, Pierre."

The Chancellor stepped forward once more. "Members of the court. We now bring forth the defendants, Crono, Alexander, Edward, and Alphonse, who are charged with abducting Princess Nadia." He walked to the entrance of the courtroom and escorted the quartet to the center of the room where the platform was. There wasn't enough room for all of them, so Crono stood on the platform while the others stood to the sides behind him.

"What shall we do with them?" the Chancellor said with a sneer as he addressed the jury again. "Fire, perhaps? Hang them upside down for a few years? Or... shall we employ the guillotine?" That last statement made Alex pale. He hoped he had played his cards right... "You, the jury," the Chancellor concluded, "will decide his fate. Now, let us begin."

The judge stared at the defendants for a few moments. "Crono, Edward, Alphonse, Alexander! You are all hereby ordered to tell the truth!"

Pierre, their lawyer, stepped forward again. "These boys are charged with 'Premeditated Abduction of Royalty.' The question is, did he kidnap Princess Nadia? The answer? No, they did not. In fact, no 'abduction' took place! The five met completely by accident. In fact, the Princess **asked** Crono if **she** could join **them**!"

The Chancellor, still wearing a smirk, approached the four boys. "Is this true?" he asked. "Who actually started this whole mess?"

Alexander tapped Crono's shoulder. Crono nodded, and stepped off the platform. Alex stood on the platform and sighed before speaking. There was no getting around this one. "Well, Pierre's statement is the complete truth. However, if you want to be absolutely technical about it... you could say that Crono was the one who bumped into Marl... er, that is, Nadia in the first place."

The Chancellor sneered. "Just as I suspected! The defendant deliberately tried to get near the Princess!"

_Crono started to walk again, but he only got about two yards ahead before he was plowed down by a girl running at top speed. "**Hey!!**" the girl exclaimed as they were thrown back to the ground. A shining pendant fell to the ground a few feet away. Crono was quick to recover, and he checked on the girl who was just getting back to her feet. "Ouch, that hurt!" she whined._

Continuing on, the Chancellor declared, "The Princess then innocently followed you to Lucca's little sideshow. Whereupon you all disappeared! If that wasn't criminal abduction, I don't know **what** is!"

Edward scowled, taking the platform. "You can probably get eyewitness accounts of this, but we didn't disappear at the same time. There were other people watching that show. Marle's disappearance was completely an accident, and in no way connected to us. We did, however, try to investigate as to where she'd gone." He was following Alex's prior advice and not elaborating on the time travel bit.

The Chancellor grunted and then declared, "I also have facts that throw the defendants' characters into question!" Alex suddenly looked nervous. What evidence could the Chancellor have? They had avoided eating the old man's lunch, so that evidence didn't even exist.

Pierre stepped forward, much to Alex's relief. "Objection! This can't have any relevance whatsoever to this case!"

The judge eyed the prosecutor curiously. "Care to respond, Chancellor?"

The Chancellor glared back at Pierre. "These boys' characters are at the very core of this case!"

Pierre shrugged. "We have nothing to hide. We have a witness. A little girl will vouch for the character of the defendants." He walked to the entrance and brought forth the little girl in question. Alex grinned; this was the exact same girl that they had returned a certain kitten to. That had been a good move.

The girl smiled at the four boys. "These nice men... They brought me my kitty. Thank you for being so kind!" With that, she walked out of the courtroom.

Pierre grinned at the judge. "How about that? Don't these boys deserve medals?" He walked back to the quartet and sighed. "Whew... Looks like they're buying it." Returning to his address to the jury, he declared, "The issue here is **motive**. Was there any motive for these fine citizens to kidnap Princess Nadia! No! There was none."

The Chancellor stepped forward from his spot yet again. "What about ransom?" he suggested. He seemed to randomly pick one of the defendants, and walked over to that one. "Alphonse," he began, startling the young armored soul, "her fortune **did** tempt you, did it not?"

Alphonse shook his head firmly. "No. Fortune never crossed my mind."

The Chancellor looked surprised. "Are you sure? You really weren't tempted."

Edward glared at him. "Didn't you hear him the first time? The answer is 'not at all'."

Alexander shuddered. There had been an old man in the fairgrounds by the name of Melchior selling swords. If approached with Marle, he might have asked for Crono to convince Marle to sell her pendant. If Crono had accepted, it would've looked like money had been a motive. Good thing they had avoided that.

The Chancellor scowled. "That's enough. I have no more questions." He returned to his spot next to the judge, grumbling to himself.

Pierre smiled. "It is evident that my clients are fine, noble young men! Your Honor, the defense rests." He also returned to his spot, grinning proudly.

The judge nodded, and addressed the court thus: "Members of the jury... If he is guilty, stand to the left. If innocent, stand to the right."

The first man stepped forward and approached the judge's table. "Not guilty." That man stood at the right side of the room.

The second member of the jury approached. "Not guilty."

"Not guilty."  
"Not guilty."  
"Not guilty."  
"Not guilty."  
"Not guilty."

This caused quite an uproar amongst the audience and the members of the court. The judge banged his gavel upon his desk. "Order in the court! A verdict has been reached! The verdict is... _not guilty_!" Before the defendants could relax, he quickly added, "But the fact remains that even if they did not kidnap her, they ran off with her. Three days' confinement as punishment."

The Chancellor grinned. "Take him away!" A few soldiers came to escort the four boys once again.

However, Marle ran into the courtroom after them. "Now just a darn minute..." she began to say, sounding more than a little angry at the punishment taking place.

"Princess!" the Chancellor gasped.

Then, soon after, the present King Guardia stepped into the room. "That's enough, my dear!" he scolded his daughter.

Marle looked at his father pleadingly. "But father...!"

The King shook his head disapprovingly. "All I asked was for you to behave like a princess. Even royalty must obey rules. Leave the rest up to the Chancellor and forget about the events in town." He turned toward the entrance with a scowl on his face. "We're leaving!" The soldiers began to drag the quartet out of the room, following the King.

Marle dropped down to her knees. "Crono!!!" she shouted in vain.

* * *

There was a single bridge connecting the top of the prison tower to the rest of the castle. The Chancellor and a couple of soldiers escorted the prisoners, who now had manacles around their wrists.

The Chancellor walked into the lobby and approached the man at the desk. "These terrorists have tried to overthrow our kingdom!" he declared authoritatively, gesturing at Crono and the others. He smirked, and continued, "He has been found guilty, and you must now carry out his sentence."

Edward did a take, as did his comrades. "What!?"

The soldiers kicked Crono forward toward the desk. The supervisor at the table raised an eyebrow. "So **these** are the monsters who kidnapped the princess!"

The Chancellor nodded. "The execution is three days away. Do **not** let them out of your sight!"

Now everyone was surprised, including the soldiers. "Execution!?" the supervisor exclaimed. "Strange, but I don't seem to recall hearing anything about an execution."

To everyone's continued surprise, save for Alexander, the Chancellor stomped his feet on the ground angrily in a huff. "**What!?!** How **dare** you question **me**?! The paperwork's probably just been held up in the system!"

The intimidation seemed to work. The supervisor flinched, but quickly regained his composure and replied, "Understood, Sir!" He turned toward the other door in the room. "Guards!" A couple of heavily armored knights appeared through the doorway. "Take the prisoners away!"

Edward just about lost it. Turning on the Chancellor, he rushed toward him, shouting, "You sonuva...!" But one of the soldiers quickly acted, charging at Edward and knocking the butt of his sword against the back of Edward's head. The blond alchemist immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Edward!" Alexander and Alphonse shouted simultaneously. Alex moved in to try and help his friend, but this was interpreted as another act of violence by the other soldier. Before Alexander could even feel the impact against his head, his world went dark.

* * *

"Ugh..." Alexander moaned, his eyes still clamped shut. He could barely hear the sound of water dripping. He felt that there was just cold stone against his cheek as he lay flat against the ground. He had a pretty good idea where he was. After a moment of recovery, he sat up. Yep, he was in a cell.

But he wasn't alone. The rest of the quartet was there as well. Crono was sitting on the cot, looking bored and depressed. Alphonse was sitting against the wall. And Edward... was just beginning to stir.

"God, my head..." Edward groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he got up. He looked around as well, coming to the same realization that Alex had.

"Hey, brother," Alphonse greeted him, his tone a sad one.

Edward shook his head, trying to regain full control of his senses once more. He glanced at Crono and the others. "Okay... How long was I out? Damn, they musta hit me pretty hard if I was out cold enough for someone to drag us here..."

Crono held up two fingers. Alexander gave him a confused look. "Two? Two what? Minutes? Hours? Days?"

Crono nodded at the last word. Alphonse immediately stood up. "Two days!? I didn't think it had been that long!" he exclaimed worriedly.

The Fullmetal Alchemist scowled. "Damn... The Chancellor's 'execution' is only a few hours away by now... Damn it again... How could he have pulled that off? The verdict was 'not guilty'!"

Alex sighed. "The Chancellor has more power than I thought. And the King's probably too busy arguing with Marle to check up on things here."

Crono stood up with a determined look on his face. Alphonse seemed to get his point. "We've gotta escape now. We have no choice."

Alexander nodded, and began to look around. It was a pretty small cell, with a narrow window that had a view of a long, _long_ drop down to the ground at the base of the castle. There was merely a gate keeping them locked in the cell.

Out of nowhere, the crimson-haired protagonist snapped his fingers, as if he was in a "Eureka!" moment. Crono walked over to the gate and, after a moment's hesitation, started tugging and pushing against it. With every motion, it made a really annoying squeaking sound.

It was annoying enough to bring about the wrath of the two armored knights guarding the cell. "Pipe down!" one of them shouted. But Crono insisted a couple more times. After a couple of times, the guard growled and muttered, "Knock it off! Ooh! I'll show him. Open it up!"

Reluctantly, the other guard pulled the lever that opened the gate. The guard rushed in and slashed at Crono, knocking him back. The guard chuckled. "That's what you get for misbehaving."

Immediately, Alexander summoned the Lockshield and slashed the knight's back, knocking him unconscious. Edward and Alphonse rushed out to confront the other guard. "This is what you get for wrongfully imprisoning us!" Edward shouted before he launched a roundhouse kick into the guard's stomach.

The guard was knocked back, but he quickly recovered. "Where do you think you're going!?" he shouted, charging in and drawing his sword. But Alphonse moved in, knocking the sword away and punching the man's face. The helmet of the guard's armor caved in slightly, and he was knocked back yet again. This time, he was down for the count.

Crono and Alexander put away their weapons and joined the Elrics. Hurrying to the escape, the quartet ran up the staircase at the end of the hall. They were immediately met by a couple of figures hiding behind large, blue, curved square shields. Blue Shield enemies.

The quartet got into a fighting stance, and Alex shouted, "Wait for them to peek out from behind the shields! Then they'll be more vulnerable!"

The fighters waited, and the Blue Shields moved back and forth a little without attacking. Then, all of a sudden, one of the pushed the shield aside, revealing some kind of round inky black creature with eyes. Crono immediately jumped in and slashed it with his sword. They didn't have much defense when revealed, so they faded away with one attack.

With this opening, Edward ran around the other Blue Shield and faced it from behind. Noticing this, the Blue Shield turned around to face him. However, Alexander came up from behind the creature while it was distracted and slashed it horizontally. It also turned red and faded away.

Alphonse looked confused. "Why didn't that guard fade away like the other enemies, yet these things did?"

Alex dismissed the Lockshield. "Probably because the guard was a bit more human than these creatures. If the guard had faded away, that would've been akin to killing him. Anyway, let's move on."

There were two upper staircases in that room, along with another staircase leading down. After thinking for a moment, Alex said, "Let's try the upper one on the right." And so the quartet ran up that flight of stairs and out the door.

They came to a bridge spanning between two of the prison towers. It was narrow and had no railings, and they could easily see the long drop they would take if they fell. Wasting no time, Crono led the way as the four fighters ran across the bridge.

"The prisoners are escaping!" they heard a gruff voice exclaim. A soldier ran out from the other tower's entrance, and another approached them from behind. They were surrounded, but they couldn't all fight. Crono was at the front, and Alphonse was at the back. Alexander and Edward couldn't get past them to fight the soldiers.

Not that help was needed. Crono slashed the first guard a couple of times, dealing critical damage to the soldier, who fell down to the ground. Alphonse punched the other guard twice and finished with a kick. The guard was thrown back, and almost fell off the bridge. The guard's sword, however, did fall off, tumbling all the way down to the valley below. So the soldier was forced to run back into the previous tower, probably to rearm himself. But the quartet jumped over the first soldier and ran into the next tower long before that guard arrived.

"Crono!" Alex shouted. "From now on, stop _stopping_ to fight! Try just attacking as you pass by!" All this work of taking battle positions as were the game's standards was wasting too much time. Crono gave him a quizzical look, but nodded.

They charged up the next stairs and into the following hallway. There was a single guard there, standing around and looking bored. Upon sight of the prisoners rushing toward him, he exclaimed, "What are you up to!?" However, Crono rushed by him, slashing him with his sword as he ran by. The blade glanced off the armor, not being all that effective. Edward clapped his hands and placed one on the ground. A row of Stonespikes rose up out of the ground, knocking into the guard and putting him out of consciousness.

There was another guard standing in front of another cell, who immediately noticed this. He was about to exclaim something, but Alexander had sprinted over to him and shouted, "_Thundaga_!" while using the Heartless Seal. A bolt of lightning shot down at the man out of nowhere, shocking him and sending him into unconsciousness like the others. Good thing the guy was wearing metal.

"H-help!" a voice came from the cell. They looked in and saw a young man strapped to a guillotine, the blade hanging dangerously over his neck. Alexander pulled the lever, opening the gate to the cell. Crono then rushed in and lifted up the piece of wood holding the man's neck in place.

The man stood up and rushed over to them. "You're all life savers!" he exclaimed. "I'm Fritz. My dad runs a store in Truce Village. Stop by if you're in the area." Then Fritz ran out of the cell.

Alex was confident he would be able to make it out on his own, so he said, "Let's keep moving. He'll be fine."

They ran back out of the cell, and rushed up a hallway branching off from the main one. Around the corner was another door with a staircase, but it was being guarded, who immediately noticed them. This time, Crono rushed over to him and slashed him vertically, landing a pretty effective blow. It wasn't quite enough, but Alex immediately shouted, "_Strike Raid_!" and hurled his shield at the soldier. It knocked into the man's head, putting him down for the count.

Alex recalled the Lockshield back to his hand and led the way onward. They crossed another long bridge outside of the tower, and entered the main tower again. The four comrades entered another four-way set of staircases, with a pair of Blue Shields in the middle. Edward growled. "Not again! No more waiting! Al!"

Alphonse nodded. "Gotcha!" He ran over to Edward and placed his hands down palm-up. Edward stepped on his hands, and Alphonse launched his older brother into the air.

"Here we go!!" Edward shouted, clapping his hands together. An orange light sparked around his hands, and he slammed them on the ground on his way down. Out of nowhere, a set of large stone fists rose up out of the ground, punching the Blue Shields from all directions with its earthen might. _**Overkill,**_ Joumae muttered as the enemies faded away almost instantly after the attack.

Crono was absolutely surprised by this display. As the stone fists crumbled back down into soil, Edward grinned at his reaction. "Stop gawking, and let's keep moving!"

"We've said that enough times as it is!" Alex retorted, leading the way up the high right staircase. The landing led them to another staircase leading upward in the opposite direction, which had a brighter light at the end of the path. They were nearly out of here.

* * *

They reached the landing of the stairs and rounded the corner to the left. They were in a room that was as lit as the rest of the castle. They were near the lobby. Two guards were standing at the sides of the entrance, and immediately noticed them. "The prisoners are escaping!" one of them exclaimed, jumping back and drawing his sword.

The other soldier unsheathed his sword and tried to bring it down on Edward's head. But the alchemist turned around and blocked it with his metal arm, pushing the blade aside and then knocking the guard back with an uppercut kick.

Crono and Alexander rushed forward toward the other guard. "Hand me your sword!" Alex shouted, grabbing Crono's sword before the boy could reply. "_Duo Raid_!" he yelled as he launched both weapons at the guard. They both nearly impaled the armored knight, and the damage was enough to defeat him. Alex recalled his Lockshield, and picked up Crono's sword and returned it to the owner. Without another word, he threw open the large wooden double doors to the lobby.

The supervisor shot up from his desk, rushing out of the room. "H... help!!!" he screamed, running up the stairs leading out of the prison tower. There was a clicking sound made just around the corner, and a few shots were heard. The supervisor tumbled down the stairs, the wind knocked out of him.

Lucca came running down the stairs, wielding her air gun. "Crono! Alex! Ed! Al! I've come to save you!" she declared. She looked around, seeing that the boys had obviously come through several battles as it is, and they had gotten this far on their own. "Gee, it looks like you didn't need my help after all!" Grinning, she shouted, "Let's blow this joint!"

Alexander picked up a notepad that had fallen off the desk upon the supervisor's attempted retreat. He read a part of the document, which said:

_To the Prison Supervisor:  
"Dragon Tank Owner's Manual" _

_The Tank Head repairs body damage. It contains a shield that prevents damage by lightning and fire. Unless the Head can be defeated, the Tank is unbeatable._

_Guardia R & D_

"What's this for?" Lucca asked. Grimacing, she added, "Is this a boss battle or something coming up really soon?"

Alex put down the document and sighed. "You're smarter than I give you credit for, Lucca."

Lucca quickly flashed a grin. "Ain't it the truth. Anyway, let's get going."

Edward sighed. "We've hurried enough as it is." But he followed the others as they ran up the stairs and onto the bridge connecting the main prison tower with the rest of the castle.

They got about halfway across the bridge before the whole structure began to rumble, and a hissing sound was heard. Lucca adjusted her glasses as the shaking stopped for a moment. "What was that?"

The party ran on, and nearly got to the entrance into the castle. But they came to an immediate halt as soon as they saw what was approaching them. It was a huge tank, with a large round body and a dragon's head shaped appendage sticking out of the front. The wheels churned slowly to move it forward, and steam sometimes poured out of the body.

The Chancellor, who was behind the huge tank, started jumping up and down like a madman. "Forward, Dragon Tank! Crush those rebels!" He quickly hid back at the entrance to watch the fireworks from a safer distance.

Alex was determined to give him one heck of a show. The Elrics adopted fighting stances, and the others brought out their weapons. Lucca tried blasting with her gun, but it did very little. In fact, it seemed like the blasts just glanced off the armored tank.

What damage it had done, however, was immediately healed by the head. A green light flashed from the head and spread across the rest of the tank, and then faded away. But it had repaired a few dents. This was going to be tough.

The Grinder wheels began to move, and, before they knew it, the tank was charging at them. The whole party was knocked back and run over by the tank as it charged forward and then returned to its original spot.

Lucca was thrown back far enough that she began to lose her balance on the bridge. "Aaah!" she screamed as she started to topple over the edge.

Alex noticed this immediately and rushed over to her. Lucca had already completely lost her footing; he only had seconds to rescue her. Alexander leaped forward, grabbing Lucca's hand and landing flat on his stomach on the edge of the bridge. Lucca dangled from his grip, and Alex pulled her up back onto the platform.

Lucca breathed deeply for a few moments, scared out of her wits by the close encounter with death, but couldn't help but smile at Alex. "Thanks, Interference."

Alex grinned back. "Anytime." He stood back up, and looked up at the Dragon Tank, which the others were having trouble fighting against. "Dang it, we need to take it out quickly."

The inventor stared thoughtfully at the tank for a moment. "Why don't you guys try using alchemy on it?"

Alex had also considered this, but he knew that Edward would have thought of this too, yet Edward hadn't done anything. Then the idea hit him. "No, we can't do that. We don't know how the tank works. If we screw up something in the machinery, it could blow up on us and take out the bridge."

Lucca nodded, sighing sadly. "Then how do we beat it? You should know; you've been through this a couple of times before, right?"

Alexander shook his head. "It was easier when it was in the game. In reality, it's much... harder..." He trailed off, suddenly getting an idea. In reality, they didn't have to rely on dealing damage alone. They could take advantage of a few things. Alex knew that the head had a flame-throwing attack, so maybe this idea just might work.

"Guys!" Alex shouted, summoning the Heartless Seal back to his hand. "I have an idea! Back up and give me room!" The other fighters nodded and carefully stepped around Alex as he approached the Dragon Tank.

The tank seemed to notice him as a new target, and the head opened its mouth. Alex grinned and pointed his Lockshield at the mouth, shouting, "_Blizzaga_!" A huge cluster of ice crystals shot out from his shield, landing right on the inside of the machine's mouth and attaching themselves there. Not a moment too soon, either; flames started to be blown out of its mouth, but they were blocked by the magical ice. Unfortunately, the ice was melted by the fire.

The Chancellor jumped around madly, sneering at him. "Hah! You can't hope to ever defeat the Dragon Tank, rebel!"

Alex remained silent as the Dragon Tank closed its mouth. None of the flames had hit anybody; they'd been all spent in melting the ice. "Hey, Chancellor!" Alex shouted. "You know what happens when you melt ice?"

The Chancellor stopped jumping for a moment. "Yeah..." he replied slowly, not seeing the point. Then it suddenly struck him. "Oh no...!"

Alexander put on a psychotic grin. "That's right! And you know what _water_ does to machinery run by _electricity_?!" Almost on cue, the Dragon Tank's body had begun to spark and fizzle. "It short-circuits it! Crono, now!"

Crono nodded, and jumped onto the top of the Dragon Tank. He stabbed his sword into the tank's body and slashed it through, ripping a large gash in the armor and causing more sparking and a few explosions to occur in the tank. Crono jumped back off and watched it destroy itself from the inside.

Lucca stepped behind Alex. "Not a bad plan," she admitted. "Using the flames to melt the ice so that it would ingest the water..."

"They got the Dragon Tank!" the Chancellor screamed, panicking. "Fix it! Quickly!" He and a couple of military officers moved in to try and repair the tank. But it was too late. Almost climatically, it exploded, taking out a section of the bridge with it. By a stroke of luck, the Chancellor and the soldiers held on to the broken ends of the bridge, reconnecting it by forming a human chain.

Alex chuckled, quickly running across the human bridge. "Thanks for the help, Chancellor!" he remarked sarcastically, making sure to step on the back of the Chancellor's head as he passed.

As the others quickly ran across, the Chancellor screamed, "Don't fool yourselves into thinking you've gotten away with this!"

* * *

The party ran down the stairs, ending up at the main floor of Castle Guardia. Two soldiers in uniform were standing at the sides of the landing, and noticed their arrival. "They're escaping!" one of them shouted, loud enough for anyone else on that floor to hear.

Crono panicked, and motioned for the others to hurry. Lucca cocked her gun and said, "We have no choice but to break through!" The party dashed ahead, with the soldiers hot on their heels. More soldiers noticed this happening and moved in to stop them as well. At this point, it looked like they were about to the captured again...

"Stop!" a girl's voice shouted from above the stairs.

The soldiers gasped. "Princess Nadia!" one of them exclaimed, falling to one knee along with the rest of them. Marle came down the stairs, wearing a green dress. She really looked like royalty now. She even looked very similar to the Queen Leene of the past.

"This is my friend!" Marle shouted. "Show him your respect!"

"B-but..." one of the soldiers tried to complain, standing up.

As Alex expected, Marle sighed dramatically and muttered, "Can't you take orders?"

The soldier knelt again, seeming ashamed of himself for speaking up. "Of course!"

"Hold it right there!" a man's voice came from behind Marle. The Chancellor ran over to Marle and jumped around like a fool. "Do as King Guardia XXXIII says!"

King Guardia came from the throne room and glared at his daughter. Marle stared back. "Father..."

"Silence, Princess Nadia!" the King snapped. "The throne comes before your personal wishes!"

"What!?" Marle snapped back, matching her father's anger. "Just because I have a title doesn't mean I'm not a person!"

King Guardia shook his head again. "You pick up strange ideas venturing outside!" he accused.

"I didn't 'pick up' anything!" Marle was quick to retort. "It's called 'common sense!'"

"Princess Nadia!" the King repeated with a tone a parent uses with a wrongful child to get their attention.

But it didn't work on Marle. "I _despise_ you! I'm leaving!" With one fluid motion, she threw off her dress, which revealed her normal traveling clothes, and ran over to meet the rest of the party. "Come on, Crono and everyone!!"

"Don't need to tell us twice!" Edward shouted back, following her as she and the others ran out the large doors of the castle and into Guardia Forest.

The Chancellor jumped up and down madly. "Don't just stand there!" he berated the guards. "After them!"

The King took a step forward, and hung his head. He was rather shocked by his daughter's declaration of despise toward him. "Princess Nadia..." he muttered, suddenly unsure of himself.

* * *

"To the left!" Alex yelled, pointing to the forest path around the corner, which he knew they had to go. The soldiers were right behind them.

Marle gasped. "But... that leads to a dead end! There'll be no escape from the guards!"

Alexander glared back at her as he ran. "I'm the Interference, remember? I know what I'm doing! Hurry!" Without another word, the others ran after him with the soldiers hot on their trail.

They came to a clearing in the forest, which had no clear way out except the way they came in. "It's still a dead end!" Marle yelled worriedly.

Lucca ran over to one side of the clearing, where she saw a black orb hovering in the air. "A Gate!" she exclaimed, surprised by the appearance of such a thing.

They all stood around it in silence for a moment. A silence which was broken by Edward. "Well? Come on! Let's go!" he suggested, gesturing at the Gate.

Lucca did a take. "But we don't know where it'll take us!" She suddenly looked at Alexander as she ended that sentence.

Before Alex could answer, however, Marle had spoken up. "Who cares!? This place stinks, anyway!" She just sounded eager to get away from the kingdom, even if it meant a trip through time.

There was another awkward silence as each of them had their own personal debate as to whether or not they should jump into the Gate. But their thoughts were broken once again by a voice from the path behind them shouting, "Princess Nadia!" The Chancellor and several soldiers came into the clearing, blocking the only exit. None of them seemed to notice the black orb hovering in midair.

Lucca approached Crono, shaking her head. "This is completely irrational," she muttered, obviously voting against jumping into the Gate.

Marle looked at Crono worriedly, anxious to use their only means of escape. "Hurry, Crono!"

Crono, unsure of what to do, looking in Alexander's direction with a pleading look. Alexander rolled his eyes and summoned the Lockshield. "Look, we don't have any other choice! Lucca, the Gate Key!" he muttered, gesturing at the Gate with his shield.

But as the Lockshield got within a couple of feet of the orb, there was a spark between the two, and the Gate suddenly expanded until it had become a portal. All of the party looked shocked. "What the...!? But how...!?" Lucca stuttered.

"No choice!" Edward decided out loud. "In we go!" And, with that, he jumped into the Gate, followed by Alphonse, Marle, Crono, Lucca, and finally a confused Alexander. The Gate closed behind them, and they started another trek through time.

The Chancellor's jaw dropped. "They... **disappeared!!!**"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	7. Future Shock

Chapter 7  
Future Shock

"Eeeek!" Marle exclaimed as the party fell out of the Gate. All six of them ended up sprawled out on the floor beneath their destination. There were some definite banging sounds as metal hit metal.

"What the hell?" Edward muttered, opening his eyes and standing up. It seemed that the floor beneath them was all metal. His arm and leg had caused some of the clanging sounds. Alphonse had made most of it.

Lucca rubbed her side. "Yeoouch...!" she groaned as she stood up and looked around.

Marle smiled as she patted herself down. "There's no way the Chancellor can reach us here." Her smile slowly disappeared as she took in the details of their surroundings. "But, where are we...?"

Lucca approached one of the walls and ran her hand along it. "The civilization here seems so... _advanced_..." the inventor remarked, her voice laced with a bit of awe.

Alphonse nodded. "Yeah, like we're in another world..."

Alexander stood up and sighed. "No, we're still in the same world. But, like our last trek, this is a different time."

"Sure," Edward responded, "but what time is it?" His expression immediately became a bemused one; it was funny what significance such a common statement held at this point.

Crono walked toward the only door in the small room. The doors slowly slid open, revealing a sand-swept wasteland outside. With more than a little hesitation, the party walked outside and shielded their faces with their arms. Looking around, they saw that the structure they had just left was some kind of dome. Albeit a ruined dome; they could see large holes in the dome and the rest of the structure. The room with the Gate seemed to be one of the only areas that was intact in the small dome. There was a large sign in front of the dome, and Alex was barely able to read the mostly faded words as "Bangor Dome."

As the sands whipped them, there was a silent consensus that another shelter was to be found, and quickly. There was a remnant of some kind of highway in front of them, so they followed the road. Alex noted, as he stared at the markings mostly rubbed away by sand, that the road's design was rather similar to the highways back in the real world.

Beyond the road, the rest of the landscape wasn't looking too pretty. There were numerous large craters to be seen around them, and the gray water of the sea was within sight.

The party saw another dome structure in the distance. It was larger than Bangor Dome was, but it had sustained much more structural damage. It looked like it had been large enough to support a town when it was in its prime. Now, though... Well, it was shelter, so they decided to go into it anyway. Alex read the sign outside the dome as "Trann Dome."

* * *

The room itself was made of the same metal technology they had seen samples of back in Bangor Dome. But the systems were an absolute mess. The ventilation system obviously wasn't working, and there was dust and all sorts of muck floating in the air.

Like Bangor Dome, there was only one room accessible from the entrance right now. However, they were actually able to find people here. Not that the people were a welcome sight either. The citizens here were dressed in rags, covered in dirt, and looked like they hadn't eaten in days. The latter, as they soon learned, was the truth.

One man who was sitting down and covering himself with his rags said, "If you're looking for food, you lose!"

Another man nearby spoke up. "You'll find some food at Arris Dome to the northeast. But only if you get past Lab 16... The beasts there don't react to weapons, like guns and swords."

Lucca and Marle had asked some of the people about where they were and where the kingdom of Guardia was. One woman gave Marle an incredulous look. "Kingdom...? Whaddaya talking about...?"

"Truce? Truce Dome?" another man replied wearily to Lucca's interrogation. "Never heard of it. This is Trann Dome."

The party met back up near the entrance. Edward shook his head sadly, dislodging some dust from his hair. "What the heck happened to this place? Everyone's barely hanging on to their existence here."

Alphonse looked worriedly at his brother. "Isn't there anything we can do to help? There's gotta be something..."

Crono lowered his gaze. Edward nodded. "Right. We don't have anything to give them. In fact, we're just as lost as they are. Damn, I'm getting a little hungry too..."

Alexander nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that one guy had said that there's some food at Arris Dome past Lab 16, which is a bit north past Bangor Dome."

Hearing this, one of the men standing in the room walked over to him. "You guys are going to go through Lab 16?"

Lucca stared at his curiously. "We don't have any other choice. We've got to find some way of surviving here."

The man shook his head disapprovingly. "You'll just turn into one of those black creatures. Everyone does eventually when they venture outside the domes..." Sighing sadly, the man walked away, leaving the party confused.

"Black creatures?" Marle repeated, looking over to Alexander inquisitively. "What does he mean by that?"

Alexander grimaced. He didn't respond for a few seconds, but then replied tersely, "I _really_ hope he doesn't mean what I think he means..."

* * *

The party walked north, and eventually reached the ruins that were Lab 16. All of the buildings gave some relative protection against the sandstorm, so that was one less thing to worry about. The six fighters made their way through the ruins, looking around at the rubble.

The party reached a clearing up ahead, where there was a path to the right from there. Suddenly, Alexander's Heartless Seal Lockshield appeared in the boy's hand. Lucca looked back at him curiously. "What are you doing?" she asked warily.

Alex was honestly confused. "I'm not sure... It's just... I have a bad feeling." It was hard to explain, but there was a reason. For example, the action list in the Kingdom Hearts II game, where you selected whether to attack or use magic or items or whatever, was usually blue when you weren't in a fight. It turned yellow for random encounters with enemies, and it turned red for bosses or necessary battles.

The reason for that phenomenon was the _instinct_ of the Keyblade or Lockshield Masters. They would naturally ready themselves when a battle was approaching, and wouldn't be caught off guard. By now, it's easy to see that Alex felt a battle approaching.

And right he was. All of a sudden, four black pools appeared on the ground in the clearing, and Neoshadow Heartless popped out of the pools. Seven Soldier Heartless also appeared in front of the Neoshadows.

The rest of the party instantly got into fighting positions. "Heartless?!" Edward shouted, voicing the question on his brother's mind as well. "What are these things doing here?" He clapped his hands and placed one on the ground. A row of Stonespikes appeared and knocked two of the Soldiers and one of the Neoshadows back.

"You know about these creatures?" Marle shouted, taking a shot at another Soldier with her crossbow. The bolt from the bow impaled the Heartless, and it dissipated into the void. A Neoshadow tried to attack Marle while she reloaded her crossbow, but Crono moved in and slashed the Heartless with his sword, cutting it in half and defeating it.

"Yeah, we do!" Alphonse replied, running over to the Heartless Edward had knocked back. He defeated one of the Soldiers with a roundhouse kick, and the other Soldier with a one-two punch. The Neoshadow charged in and attacked Alphonse, knocking him to the ground. Another Neoshadow moved in on the suit of armor to help out its ally. Edward clapped his hands and transmuted his armblade into existence, then charged in and slashed up the two Neoshadows a few times, defeating them.

Lucca fired a few shots on the rest of the Soldiers, stunning them for a moment. Crono then lifted his sword up and slashed downward through the air. A blade of energy appeared where he'd slashed and arced through the stunned Heartless, slashing through them and destroying them as it passed.

Alexander looked surprised. _The Slash technique._ Crono also seemed surprised by the use of this technique, as he stared at his sword with a look of intrigue. Still, he shouldn't have been distracted, because the last Neoshadow rushed toward him to attack. Alexander pointed his Lockshield at that enemy and shouted, "_Blizzaga_!" and defeated it with a large blast of ice.

The battle was finally over; the Heartless were staved off for now. Crono, Lucca, and Marle immediately turned to face Alex, Edward, and Alphonse. "Well?" Lucca said, looking meaningfully at Alex. "Aren't you going to explain things now?"

Alexander couldn't help but grin. "You've got me all figured out, don't you?" It was amusing to him that Lucca had figured out that his purpose was mainly to explain things. Moving on, however, he cleared his throat and began to explain. "Those creatures were called Heartless. They're one of the groups of enemies from Kingdom Hearts II, the first game I had been an Interference in."

Marle raised an eyebrow. "They're from a different game?" she repeated, confused. "Why are they here in this game, then?"

"Well," Alex said with a sigh, "there's a connection made when I travel from world to world. Now that I've come here, this world now has a connection to the Fullmetal Alchemist and Kingdom Hearts worlds. Since Heartless are a universal enemy, they can appear in whatever world they can connect to."

Alexander took a deep breath and continued. "Heartless are what's created when the heart – the proverbial heart, not the vital organ – is removed from the body and soul. The heart becomes consumed by darkness, and a Heartless is born. That Heartless is then instinctively attracted to the darkness in other people's hearts, and attempts to take out the hearts of its victims, starting the process all over again."

Crono nodded, taking this all in. But he still looked confused, and he gestured at Alexander's Lockshield, which Alex had not dismissed yet. Lucca seemed to get his point. "That's the first design of your Lockshield, right?" she asked, walking over to Alex. She gently took the Lockshield from him, and placed a hand on the Heartless emblem on the design. "I noticed this emblem on some of those small armored type Heartless. Does that make this a Heartless weapon?"

Alexander hastily took back the Lockshield and dismissed it in a puff of inky black smoke. "In a matter of speaking. There's a weapon called the Keyblade in the Kingdom Hearts universe as well. It's a weapon of light, and its main wielder was chosen a long while before I was. So I was chosen when I became an Interference to carry the Keyblade's equal and opposite, the Lockshield."

Edward looked surprised. "Chosen? You were chosen?"

Alex sighed. "Again, in a matter of speaking. The Keyblade has a will of its own, so the Lockshield also had to have its own will as well. Of course, it was a weapon created of my own heart, so the will of the Lockshield is kinda my dark counterpart." He smirked and tapped the side of his head. "His name's Joumae, and only a few people can hear him when he speaks."

Marle grinned at this news. "Sweet! You have another personality in your head! That sounds so cool!"

_**Heh heh heh... If only she knew what it was like, right Alex?**_ Joumae remarked, making Alex sigh yet again. Still, at least Marle was understanding and enthusiastic about it. Maybe that was because she was a bit more childish than the others, and therefore had a greater imagination.

Lucca scowled. "Alright. But there's still one more thing. The Gate back in Guardia Forest... That Lockshield seem to work as a Gate Key."

There was a short silence amongst the party, and Alexander also scowled. "That..." Alex began, but trailed off. Shaking his head, he stated, "I'm not sure why that happened. I may know about the elements of the game, but I'm sometimes not sure about how the Interference factors work." He paused. "Joumae?"

_**That is a good question,**_ Joumae admitted. **_While the Lockshield does have some degree of power, it's not from this game universe. It shouldn't have any power over the Gates or anything from _this_ world._**

Alex shook his head. To the others, it had been merely a tense silence, so he said, "He doesn't know either. Well, maybe we'll find out along the course of this journey. That's often how it has worked before."

Alphonse nodded at him. "Well, I think that just about wraps up this session of explanations. Shall we get going?"

* * *

It took them a solid half an hour to fight through most of Lab 16. And, to Alexander's surprise, there was nothing but Heartless. There were none of the strange mutant creatures that Alex remembered fighting in the game. Nope, there was just Heartless, of all types and many in number.

Most of the party was sick of the fighting by the time they were nearing the exit. The Heartless came in many types: Shadows, Soldiers, Neoshadows, Large Bodies, Armored Knights, Surveillance Robots, Crimson Jazz, Wight Knights, Toy Soldiers, and even Crescendos! You name it, there was one of those in Lab 16. And they appeared in quite a few places. Hiding in ruined cars, waiting in craters, and sometimes just popping out of the void in the larger clearings.

Still, it came around to the point that they finally found the way out. And the party knew that it was the way out because the sandstorm was raging outside of the ruins. The mostly faded main highway also started up again out there, so that meant they were back on the world map, so to speak.

They followed the road down past the side of the ruined lab area and over to another large dome. The sign outside read "Arris Dome," and the party was somewhat relieved. They had reached some kind of destination.

The initial room of Arris Dome was significantly larger than those they had seen before. But half of it was mainly the winding path of stairs and platforms to reach the back of the room, where the citizens were sitting around. The party made their way to that section of the room, where they immediately became the center of attention.

An old man with a cane in the middle of the room took a step in their direction. "You there, where're you from...?" he asked wearily, like someone who'd been given the task of waiting in one spot for years.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "We came from the laboratories to the west," she replied. This statement caused a few gasps from the crowd. This meant to everyone that they had braved Lab 16.

"W-what!?" the old man gasped. He smiled and turned toward the other raggedy people. "Hey," he announced, "we've got people who crossed the ruins!"

Everyone stood up and stared at the party. "Say again!?" a woman shouted in surprise. "You're joking!" another man said incredulously.

The old man's face was filled with some small measure of awe. "So there **are** people who can beat up those dark monstrosities..." The party walked toward him, and the rest of the people kept their eyes on them.

The old man shook his head and said, "Pardon me. I'm Doan. I'm the descendant of the Director of this Info center. In the basement, there's a huge computer and a storage center for food. But we can't get through because of the robot guards. It's a pity." He sighed, and looked away.

Alexander looked over to the side. In the middle of the room, there was a manhole with a ladder going down into the basement of the dome. He started walking toward it, and Doan stared at him with a surprised expression. "Are you going down below?"

Marle smiled at him. "Of course!" she replied, going along with Alex's idea. The rest of the party gave their consent toward the affirmative, mainly because they had no other options.

Doan paled. "But no one's ever returned from there," he mumbled, his voice filled with fear and painful memories.

Edward smirked. "Gotta try, right? Besides, several of us have escaped worse scrapes than a bunch of Heartless and guard robots."

Doan was silent for a few moments. "...It's nice to see such spirited young people for a change." He nodded at them. "Careful, now. And come back alive."

* * *

The group of six climbed down the ladder and looked around at the room they had entered. In the far end of the room were a couple of consoles. There was a door to the right of the console, but it was isolated by the lack of a platform leading to it. And it was too far of a jump.

Lucca walked over to the consoles, specifically the one on the right. After fiddling with it for a moment, she decided, "This console controls the passageway. We need a password to get through."

Before anyone could give him a meaningful look, Alex quickly said, "I don't remember. Something in here knows, though." He looked over to a ladder on the left side of the room. "I think that thing leads to the storage room. We might find a clue in there."

They climbed up that ladder, and ended up facing a set of support beams hanging over the large room below. The room below was probably the one that the isolated door led to. Anyway, Alex led the way as they traversed the beams. They were just wide enough to walk along safely, but there were no guard rails. "Thank goodness," Alex remarked, "that my first adventure cured my fear of heights..."

Some of the support beams were broken, so they had to work their way around a little. They ended up, however, passing some kind of statue of a rat. There was a memo on it that said:

_Warning.  
Anyone within the vicinity of the stock room will be attacked!_

"Well, that's a pleasant thought," Edward grumbled sarcastically as he and the others followed Alexander across the beams some more.

One of the beams connected to another passageway, which the party was quick to get onto. It felt better to be on relatively stable flooring. Still, their relief didn't last long. As soon as they stepped into the next room, several sirens started blaring. The party immediately began to run, but a large robot fell from the ceiling, throwing the party to the sides. The large teal and tan-colored robot blocked the door, so there wasn't much chance of getting past it.

_"Executing program..."_ a monotone voice came from the robot.

"Alex!" Marle shouted. "What's going on!?"

Alexander got up and summoned his Lockshield. "Marle! Everyone! Let's beat this thing!" The rest of the party nodded and took fighting stances, taking places in the room to face the monstrously large guard robot.

Two smaller drone robots came down from the ceiling and floated at the Guardian robot's sides. Bits, they were called. One of the Bits' tops opened up, and a few missiles launched out of it and converged on Alphonse, causing a small explosion and knocking the younger alchemist back.

"Hey!" Marle shouted, launching a crossbow bolt at that particular Bit. The bolt glanced off, causing a small dent but not doing much actual damage. The other Bit fired a laser at Marle, which barely missed her leg.

Lucca fired a few shots at the second Bit, but the blasts didn't seem to faze the robot much either. That Bit fired a few more missiles and hit Lucca with them. Crono tried slashing the Guardian robot a few times, but his sword didn't do too much in causing a cut in the metal.

Marle finally recovered. "Our attacks aren't working!" Looking over to the other three fighters, she shouted, "Try using some alchemy!"

Alexander nodded, and switched his shield to the Crimson Catalyst. Thinking for a moment as his knowledge of alchemy returned to him, he shouted, "I think I have an idea!" He ran up to the first Bit and jumped up, clapping his hands. He placed one hand on the Bit, and the whole robot flashed with green sparks for a moment. But when the alchemic reaction faded, it didn't look like it had changed at all. But Alex was quick to get as far away from the Bit as possible.

And for good reason, too. Suddenly, the Bit's metal casing started to turn black. After a tense second of silence, it spontaneously exploded, crashing onto the ground in a flaming heap. Edward stared at Alexander incredulously. "How the heck did you manage to do that!?" he shouted.

Alex smirked back at him. "A technique I remembered from the anime! Transmute the whole thing into a material that absorbs _carbon_!" he yelled.

Edward's eyes widened in realization. Grinning, he shouted, "Good idea! Al, c'mere!" Alphonse quickly ran over to Edward and placed his hands down, palms up. Edward stood on Alphonse's hands and got a high boost into the air. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the Bit on his way back down from the air. The Bit was consumed by blue sparks for a moment, then was left alone again. Edward quickly got away before the Bit spontaneously exploded like the first one had.

Lucca gasped. "Of course! If it has too much carbon in its molecular makeup, it'll ignite!"

A small siren sounded as the robot confirmed that the two Bits were gone. The Guardian started to shift around a little. Everyone's attention turned toward the larger robot. _"Five..."_ it suddenly intoned, and all of them panicked. A countdown was beginning, and Alex didn't want to be reminded of what happened at the end of it.

"We can't transmute it like we did the others!" Alphonse shouted before Edward or Alexander could act. "The explosion would take us out along with it!"

_"Four..."_

Alexander snapped his fingers on his left hand, using the flame glove. A spark quickly traveled to the Guardian and exploded at its center. But there was only a small scorch mark, and not much damage had been dealt.

_"Three... Two..."_

Alex scowled. Not even the flame glove technique had worked! But what else could they do?! No attack was even scratching the thing, much less tearing it up like they needed to do... Alex suddenly began to unreasonably fear for his life...

The Interference let out a small gasp. There had only been a few times that he'd feared for his life, or had been in excruciating pain in a single moment. That last time... had been on a rainy day in East City.

_"One..."_

Alexander charged at the Guardian, clapping his hands together. He tensed his right hand up, and slammed it against the metal of the large robot. A large mass of red sparks appeared around the place of contact, and Alex's hand started to tear through the machine, sending nuts and bolts and pieces of decomposed metal flying.

Edward stared wide-eyed at the technique. "Decomposition without reconstruction... Scar's technique..."

By the end of it, Alex had ripped all the way through the Guardian, standing on the other side of it. There was a large chunk of the robot missing. _"Breakdown..."_ The whole room started to shake, and the Guardian was overtaken by a bright light. It slowly faded away until the entire thing no longer existed.

The room stopped shaking, and the party put away their weapons. With a collective sigh of relief, they moved silently into the room beyond.

The next room was a small room, and the air was very thick. Many boxes were lined up in the center of the room, some of which were broken open. Marle covered her mouth and nose with her hand. "Phew! Something reeks!"

Lucca checked the contents of the crates that had holes in them. She also looked ready to gag. "Everything's completely rotten. The refrigeration must have failed..."

Marle looked around, and saw a figure hunched over at the far end of the room. She ran over to the figure, seeing something. "Crono, look!!" Everyone looked at her as she inspected the man. She paused for a few moments, and her enthusiasm disappeared. "Passed away long ago, I suppose..." she mumbled. She picked something up from the body's hands. "He's holding something. What do you suppose this is?"

The rest of the party approached her and looked at the small item in Marle's hand. "It looks like a seed," Lucca remarked.

Crono looked at it thoughtfully. Edward looked at the ruins around them. "A seed? Do you think it could grow in a place like this?"

Alexander knelt down beside the man, and picked up something in the other hand. It was a soiled sheet of paper. Shaking off some of the filth, he saw that there was something written on it. He read it, saying aloud, "_The rat is more than just a statue! It knows the secret of this dome. Catch it!_"

The group of six exchanged glances, then all came to the same conclusion. "**The rat!!!**" they all shouted simultaneously, and immediately ran out of the room.

* * *

"There!" Marle shouted, pointing at the rat "statue" that was standing on one of the support beams. "There it is!"

"Shhh!" Alphonse shushed her. "It might run away."

Alexander growled. "It will run away! It'll be easier for one person to traverse these support beams, so... Crono, catch it!"

Crono immediately charged at the rat, which squeaked and started to run. Everyone else also started to run, but Crono stayed ahead as he chased the rat. Just as it was about to escape, Crono grabbed its tail and held it up by its rear appendage.

"_Squeek!!_ I give up," the rat shouted. "I'll tell you everything, squeek. Press and hold the L and R buttons and then press the A button to access the secret passage, squeek. Don't make any mistakes, or you'll be sorry!"

Crono let the rat go, and Lucca smiled satisfactorily. "That's the password we needed. Let's get back to that console!"

The party traversed the beams back to the original room in the basement. They approached the console, and turned their attention toward the keyboard on the console. Following the rat's advice, Alexander held down the L and R keys on the keyboard, and Lucca typed the A key.

A platform rose up to connect the path to the door on the right, which the party was quick to take advantage of. The door led to a larger room, which had a main platform in the center and some mesh platforms higher up to the sides. The main platform didn't reach all the way to the door, so they took the mesh platform to the left and reached the other main platform farther ahead. From there, they had to traverse another mesh platform to reach the door itself.

The next room was even larger than the last. But as soon as they got onto a large clearing, some Wight Knight Heartless appeared and attacked them. Alexander switched his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal and shouted, "_Magnega_!" The Wight Knights were suddenly drawn to the dark orb of magnetic energy that appeared in the air. Within the electromagnetic force and their own impacts against each other, the Wight Knights were easily defeated.

"I gotta use magic more often," Alex decided, dismissing his Lockshield and leading the way onward. Deciding that clearings often brought about battles, the party tried to avoid those as they made their way through the room. Fortunately, there was a narrow path that went along the edge of the room and went to the door, so they were fine.

The room they entered now was actually quite a bit smaller. There was only a couple of consoles in the center of the room, and a large monitor in the back. Lucca smiled. "So this is the info center!" she exclaimed. She ran over to the console and looked it over. "Good! The computer's still operational! If we run a search on time warps, we might find our Gate!"

She started typing and pressing buttons furiously for a few moments. Several windows and lines of text ran by on the monitor in a way that even Alex didn't quite understand. Lucca suddenly shouted, "Here! Got it!" Some readings appeared on the monitor. "East of Arris Dome..." An image of the world map appeared on the monitor, and panned over to the east, finally centering on a dome on the other side of another set of ruins. "That would be Proto Dome, I believe."

Marle cheered. "Leave it to Lucca! I'm beginning to think you could find anything with this device!" She walked over to the console and stared at a particularly large green button. "Say, what does this button do?"

There was a whirring sound coming from the machine, but then a line of text appeared on the screen. Edward raised an eyebrow. "'1999 AD'? 'Visual record of The Day of Lavos'..."

_The image was that of a much brighter era. The domes were still intact, the valleys were green and lush, and forests covered the land. But then the sky turned dark, and a large red crack appeared in the middle of one of the continents. The crack widened, and suddenly exploded in size, its width becoming greater than the diameter of the largest domes. Molten rock flew out of the hole, defying the earth's gravity and magnetism._

_A gigantic spiny creature rose up out of the hole in the earth. Gigantic blasts of energy flew out of its body, and attacked every corner of the world. It wasn't long before the entire world was covered in the explosions this monstrosity caused._

The image blanked out and became static. Everyone was shocked by the image they had just seen. "Wh-what...** is** that?!" Marle demanded. She took a tentative step back. "_Lavos_...? Is that what's destroying our world!?"

Edward nodded solemnly. "We must truly be in the future..."

"No! **No way!**" Marle screamed. "I refuse to believe it!! This..." The monitor finally blanked out of existence, and Marle fell to her knees. "...this can't be the way the world ends..." She started to sob, and the rest of the party was silent.

Alexander stared at the monitor, and walked over to the console. He pressed a few buttons, and the visual record came back to life. He rewound it back to the point where Lavos had completely uncovered itself from the ground. He paused it right there, and stared at it for a moment. Alex pressed a few more buttons, and the image suddenly zoomed in on Lavos, showing the monster in more detail. He zoomed in a few more times, until he finally could see clearly what he'd been looking for.

There was a figure standing just above Lavos' head. He wore a dark cloak, and had a large sword with the Heartless emblem hefted over his shoulder. The hair and face were slightly different, but there was no mistaking who it looked very similar to.

Alphonse looked up at the stilled image. The man wore no expression, simply looking on as Lavos started its rampage. "Who... who is that, Alex?" he asked hesitantly.

Alexander scowled, and looked back at his comrades. He sighed and began to explain. "In the Kingdom Hearts universe, there was this man called Ansem the Wise. He conducted some experiments with the heart a few years ago. Ansem had six apprentices: Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Elaeus, Even, and Ienzo. Their experiments accidentally created the first Heartless, and Ansem immediately put a stop to the research."

"However," Alex continued, "the apprentices still wanted to continue the experiments with the Heartless and the darkness of the heart. So they exiled Ansem and continued the work, eventually becoming Heartless themselves. When a strong willed person becomes a Heartless, the body and soul remaining becomes a Nobody, a creature not unlike a Heartless. Anyway, Xehanort's Heartless was defeated in the first Kingdom Hearts game. All of the apprentices' Nobodies were defeated in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II."

Alex looked back at the screen. "The Heartless of the remaining five... were nowhere to be found." He paused for a moment. "During my adventure through Amestris, my sister had come along as well. However, one of the Heartless apprentices, Dilan, abducted my sister and convinced her into becoming a Heartless and fighting me. I... defeated my sister's Heartless, and also defeated Dilan. But he told me before he disappeared that the other apprentices would be waiting for me in other worlds, watching to see what I would do as an Interference."

The Chrono Trigger characters looked up at the screen with this new knowledge. Alexander nodded at them. "It seems that this apprentice, _Elaeus_, has involved himself with the destruction of this world in the hope that I might confront him."

Marle stopped sobbing. "Crono..." she mumbled. She stood up and faced them all with newfound determination. "There's only one thing we can do! We must change history! Just like Crono did when he saved me! Right, Lucca? Right, Crono?!! Alex, Edward, Alphonse!?"

Lucca was speechless for a moment, and adjusted her glasses nervously. "I... guess so..." When everyone looked strangely at her, she said, "It was a stroke of luck that we were sent here through that Gate." She nodded to herself, and said, "Crono, Alexander... Let's go!"

Crono smiled and nodded firmly. "Okay!"

Marle thrust a fist into the air. "Crono! Lucca! Alex! Edward! Alphonse! Together we can do this!" she shouted enthusiastically.

Alexander nodded thoughtfully. "Let's take a second and do some more research on Lavos' activities back in the present." He grinned. "Next stop, Proto Dome!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	8. Robo in the Party

Chapter 8  
Robo in the Party

The party climbed up back through the manhole to the main room of Arris Dome. When all of them had made their way up, Doan was the first to notice them. "You're back!" he cried out, also attracting the attention of the others. All of the people, including Doan, gathered around the party with anxious expressions. "Well?" Doan asked expectantly. "What did you discover?"

"This is... our future!" Marle blurted out, immediately receiving a glare from Alexander.

Doan raised an eyebrow at the young woman. One of the guys at the back of the small crowd shouted, "Who cares? Where's the food!?"

Marle dug her hand into her pocket and held out the seeds they had found. "This is all we could get..."

"Seeds...?" Doan mumbled, intrigue in his voice.

Lucca shook her head. "You don't know how long the Enertron will hold out," she remarked, referring to the machine these people used to replenish their energy without getting food. "Those seeds might be your only hope."

Alphonse nodded, gazing at the crowd of broken men, women, and children. "You have to stay alive! And so do we!"

Doan looked around, as if comparing the party against the natives. "Huh... You're strange... You're different from us..."

Edward chuckled a little. "I think it's because we're healthy!"

The old man smiled a little in response to the last word. "Heal-thy?" he repeated, trying out the word that was completely new to him. "Got a nice ring to it!" He nodded to himself, taking the seeds from Marle's hand. "We'll try growing the seeds..."

One of the children walked toward Doan, staring at the seeds in his hand. "What're those?" the little girl asked.

Doan smiled at her. "They just might be our future..."

Alexander looked away, trying to hide the expression on his face. This scene was just too precious. If this went on any longer, tears would begin to well up. Clearing his throat, he said, "Well, anyway, we should probably start heading for Proto Dome."

The old man looked at them with a surprised expression. "Heading for Proto Dome? Go by way of Laboratory 32, and take this with ya." He held out a strange metal object, which Alexander took. It looked like some kind of ignition key. Doan nodded. "It's a key to the Jet Bike in Lab 32. I used to ride it when I was young. Hope it still works..."

Alexander placed the key in his pocket, grinning. "Don't worry. It will work!"

"They've got more powerful robots and monsters over there," Doan warned them. "Take care, and stay... _healthy_!"

* * *

The party left Arris Dome and traversed the wastes to the north, where Laboratory 32 lay. Lab 32 looked quite a bit like Lab 16, in the way that it was a network of ruined streets and buildings. They shifted past some rubble, and came to an exceptionally large clearing at the site. Up in the distance, there was a long blue vehicle sitting at the end of a long highway that seemed to stretch out across the Lab. It looked something akin to a rocket resting on two wheels, with a driver's seat at the front.

Alexander held up the Bike Key. "I'll betcha this is the Jet Bike. We can use this to cross the Lab easily!" He ran up to the machine, jumped into the driver's seat, and quickly found the ignition lock. With great flourish, he placed the key inside and turned it. A satisfying roar came from the Jet Bike.

At the same time, however, a siren sounded off. Several robots came from the entrance to the clearing, surrounding them. The party immediately took fighting stances, but a voice interrupted them. "Hold it right there!" A guy with dark skin, black sunglasses, and a purple outfit came zooming through, finally stopping next to the Jet Bike. The wheels that had been under him shifted to his back, and he turned to face the robots and the party.

"Hey, it's..." the robots declared simultaneously, "the **man**!"

The stranger grinned and spread his arms out in a pose. "Like, thanks for the intro, babe!" he announced.

"...the **man**!" they all cried out again. Much to his dismay, Alexander was reminded of the crowd of fangirls that had followed Setzer around in Twilight Town.

The man smirked at the party. "You lowlifes can call me Johnny. Now listen up. Part of an old highway leads through these ruins. Think you can beat me in a bike race? Use that 'Jet Bike' and... don't chicken out, babe!"

Lucca sighed. "Great. So one of us is going to have to race him in order for us to get through this Lab. How convenient..."

Crono looked around at the others, as if trying to decide who he would vote to be the racer. However, there was already a volunteer. Alexander climbed back into the Jet Bike and said, "Hey, I'll take you on!"

Johnny raised an eyebrow at him. "...Do you know how to ride?"

Crono was quick to reply. "No."

The proud racer sighed and said, "Alright... listen up. The gas is on auto, so there's only one speed: **fast**!" He walked over to the Jet Bike and pointed at the controls. "Use the wheel to steer, and press the red button for a turbo boost." Smirking, he added, "I'll give you three of them, but it takes a moment to recharge between boosts!"

His wheels shifted back to under his body, and he got into a racing position. "Now show me what you got, babe!"

Alexander looked ahead at the highway stretching out beyond the horizon. Before he had a chance to prepare himself, he heard the roar of the engine as it accelerated forward, zooming off along with Johnny. The Jet Bike zoomed ahead, but Johnny quickly overtook him and gained the lead. A few seconds later, Johnny slowed down and Alex caught up. Alexander knew from experience that it would be a constant trade-off like this, switching between first and last place.

Alex got in front of Johnny and, using the momentum to carry him further, he hit the boost and zoomed even further ahead of Johnny. The boost ended soon enough, and Johnny began to catch up as usual. However, Alex turned the Jet Bike to the side, where Johnny was just arriving at. The other racer bumped into the rear of the Jet Bike and bounced off, trying to move past him. Alex moved the Jet Bike to the side accordingly, cutting Johnny off again. The routine went like this once more, but Alex failed to block Johnny this time, so his opponent took the lead again. And it probably wasn't long before the goal was in sight.

Suddenly, Alex heard the strange but familiar sound of warping space. He looked behind the Jet Bike and saw Magnum Loader Heartless as well as Hot Rod Heartless gaining on them! "Oh, great!" he exclaimed sarcastically, summoning the Heartless Seal.

Johnny was shocked. "What the...?!" he shouted as Alex passed him on the Jet Bike. One of the Hot Rods did a quick wheelie and slammed into Johnny, steering him off course and knocking him off the track.

Alex looked to his sides. Surrounded by fast Heartless, with little control over the speed of the Jet Bike. _**Kinda reminds you of the 'light cycle' run in Space Paranoids, huh?**_ Joumae calmly remarked.

The Interference threw his Lockshield at one of the Magnum Loaders. The spinning shield damaged it and sent it off course, effectively destroying it. Alex recalled the Lockshield and noticed two Hot Rods closing in for a pincer attack. As the Heartless charged, Alex decided to slam on the boost button again. He zoomed ahead of the attack, letting the Hot Rods slam into each other and damage themselves. They also spun off the track, falling far behind the fast Jet Bike.

As the boost deteriorated, Alex swerved around the remaining Magnum Loaders, letting the Heartless get ahead of him. Apparently seeing an opportunity, the Magnum Loaders formed a tight line meant to cut Alex off. Alexander glanced down at the dashboard, focusing on the red boost button. After a tense second, the light came back on. The boost had recharged. His last boost.

Wasting little time, Alex slammed the boost button, sending the Jet Bike zooming forward once more. The momentum was too much for the Magnum Loaders; they were knocked out of the way in a fashion that reminded Alex of bowling pins. As the last Heartless spun out of sight, Alex noticed the Jet Bike pass over a bright white line spanning across the highway. The finish line.

"Woohoo!" Alex cheered, almost standing up in his seat. "Now _that's_ the way to race!"

* * *

It took Alex a couple of trips to go back and retrieve his fellow party members. By the time he was coming back to the finish line for the last time, Johnny had arrived. He looked rather pained, both in his body and his ego.

"**You** beat me!?" he exclaimed incredulously. "I don't get it! I was usually able to handle those creatures easily, but there was more now than usual..." He smirked at Alexander. "You can challenge me anytime. We'll ride like the wind, babe!"

Edward sighed dramatically. "About freakin' time. I thought we weren't going to get anywhere for a while."

Alex looked at Edward with a hurt expression as they followed Crono's lead out of the lab. "Oh, come on! I've piloted more complicated stuff than that Jet Bike, and in more dire circumstances as well!"

Everyone shielded their faces as they entered the sand-swept wasteland area once more. After following the ruined highway east and then south, they eventually arrived at Proto Dome. They had passed by a factory-type structure at the turn, but Alex had advised them to ignore it for now. The party opened the door to the dome and walked into the network of platforms inside.

They made a left turn onto one of the central areas, but they were confronted by several green spider-like robots. "Buggers!" Alex explained, summoning the Heartless Seal. Fortunately, he had an idea of what to do. "_Thundaga_!" A large bolt of lightning immediately followed the incantation, striking the middle Bugger and also affected the others beside it. Like Alex predicted, the electricity spike ended up entering the robots' systems and short-circuited them. The metal husks turned red and faded away.

Marle frowned. "Hey!" she shouted accusingly. "Save some for the rest of us! Don't we have to get, like, _experience_ or something!?"

Alphonse almost chuckled. "Y'know, I guess she does have a point. In game terms, you would say that you're the highest 'level' of us, right Alex? Especially since you've already been through a couple of adventures..."

Alexander rolled his eyes and dismissed the Lockshield. "Fine, fine. I'll stay out of the fights this time." Gesturing toward the platform to their right, he said, "You guys deal with that on your own."

The others looked in that direction. There were four more Buggers standing in a line. Crono drew his sword. Lucca drew out her gun, replying, "Fair enough!" She and Marle both fired a shot at one of the Buggers, the combined projectiles doing enough damage to destroy it.

Edward transmuted a sword out of some rubble, and he double teamed a couple more of them with Crono, using simultaneous slashes to slice through them more quickly. Alphonse ran over to the last one, slamming a kick and a couple of punches into it before grabbing it and throwing it against the wall.

Alexander sighed and gave them a small bout of applause. "Alright, you guys happy? I think that's the last of them in this dome. We should be close to what we're looking for." And, following his lead, the party crossed a mesh walkway to the last platform in the back. There were a couple of computer terminals, a door with a rather sturdy mechanical lock on it, and a hunk of metal slouched on a cloth in the center.

Marle inspected the metal pile first. It looked vaguely humanoid. "Wh-what's this?" she asked hesitantly, as if she expected it to lunge at her if she made a lot of incessant noise.

Lucca walked over to it and stared thoughtfully. She smiled after a moment. "It's in bad shape... but it appears to be a humanoid robot! Incredible!" She knelt down and did a basic check of the damage on the robot. After a minute, she looked back at the party and said, "...I think I can fix it."

Alexander grinned. "If anyone can, it would certainly be you!"

Lucca sighed. "I'll take that to mean that I'm supposed to in the game. Not that I mind; I'd like to see this robot function anyway."

Edward did a take. "What!?" he exclaimed. "But it might attack us!"

The inventor shook her head. "I'll make sure it won't. Machines aren't capable of evil..." She lowered her head shamefully. "...humans make them that way."

"Lucca," Alphonse cut in. "You... pity them, don't you?"

Lucca turned away and knelt down toward the robot. "Let me get to work now, okay?" she said, obviously requesting that the subject be left alone.

* * *

A long while went past as Lucca worked on the robot. The others were left to their own devices. And, considering that they were trapped in a bleak future, they had few devices to be left to. Basically, they were kinda bored.

Marle busied herself with studying the door at the far end of the platform. After pushing and staring and all sorts of investigation, she looked back at them and plainly said, "The door won't budge." Hearing this, Crono and the Elric brothers joined her to study the door.

Alexander nodded, and knelt down next to Lucca, watching her work. He found the operation pretty interesting, even if he didn't completely under standing what was taking place. "Y'know, Lucca," he began, trying to start a conversation, "what you said earlier... it kinda reminded me of some events I remember from this game."

Lucca remained silent, checking the robot's right arm.

Alex rubbed the back of his neck. He had strayed onto a sensitive subject. "Well, I do remember seeing a cutscene... well, when you were a child..." The inventor sighed and looked up at him. Their eyes locked for a moment, but they soon broke away awkwardly. "Uh..." Alex mumbled, "anyway... need any help here?"

Lucca nodded after a moment. "Yeah... check that other arm, would you? I need to make sure that its movement isn't limited."

* * *

At long last, the robot seemed to be in full repair. Lucca brushed the dust off her hands and announced, "Right, that does it! I'm going to give it some juice!" She placed a power supply into the robot and quickly shut the container. Almost instantaneously, the robot jumped up and started moving around wildly, sparking with electricity and startling the party.

It lasted only a couple of seconds, and the robot finally calmed down, standing perfectly in the center of the platform. Its robotic eyes shone as they scanned all six people. It remained silent nonetheless.

Marle decided to try a greeting. "Good morning!"

"Mo..." the robot started, as if trying to imitate the use of words. Suddenly, it bowed and stated humbly, "Good morning, mistress. What is your command?"

Marle looked astonished, but shook her head and replied, "I'm not your 'mistress'. I'm Marle!" She gestured at the others. "And this is Crono... Alexander, Edward, Alphonse... and Lucca, who fixed you!"

The robot turned to Lucca and bowed once more. "I understand," it stated. "Madam Lucca fixed me." Its use of formalities amused Alex, since he hadn't been very good with formalities himself.

Lucca smiled and shook her head as well. "Just Lucca will do."

The robot looked as surprised as a robot can. "Impossible," he declared. "That would be rude."

The inventor sighed and turned toward the rest of the party. "Look, I hate formal titles! Don't you, Marle?" she asked, knowing that this question would reinforce her statement.

As expected, Marle giggled and replied, "Hate 'em!"

The robot bowed once more. "I understand, Lucca."

Edward nodded, feeling that the issue had passed. "Alright. Now what's your name?"

"Name?" the robot asked, sounding confused. "Ah, my serial number. It is R66-Y," he replied, though it was hardly the answer they had been looking for.

Lucca adjusted her glasses and grinned. "R66-Y? Cool!"

Alex nodded to himself. _Ah, right, the R series of robots. Almost forgot about that._ Then he began berating himself. _Dang it! That's later in the game! I don't need to be thinking about that __**now**_

Unfortunately for him, Joumae happened along this train of thought. _**Ah, thinking ahead as always, right Alex? In more than one way, I see.**_ When he felt Alex's thoughts of confusion, he explained, _**I heard that little exchange between you and Lucca. You not only referred to one of the side quests, but you got into an awkward moment with her!**_

Alex looked away so that no one else would see his shocked expression. _What!? How could you imply such a thing?! I swear, I liked it better when you were cautious about being an annoying backseat driver!_

"No!" Marle shouted, fortunately breaking Alex out of his internal argument. "That won't do at all!" Looking around at the others, she said, "Come on, let's give him a better name!"

After a few moments of contemplation, Crono finally suggested, "Robo?"

Marle pondered it. "Robo... Robo... that's perfect!" Looking over at the robot, she declared, "Your new name is Robo, okay?"

The robot nodded. "I am... Robo. Data storage complete."

Alphonse looked around curiously. "Hey Robo, why aren't there any people here?" he asked suddenly.

Robo looked around, also appearing confused. He stared for quite a while before finally asking, "What... What has happened here?" He walked over to the barricaded door. "There **were** many humans and others of my kind in this dome."

Lucca's gaze lowered to the ground. "I think something awful happened here..." She didn't know whether or not to mention Lavos. For all they knew, this robot could've been shut down for over three-hundred years.

Robo's confusion became focused on the party. "But how is it that you survived?"

Alexander decided that the straight answer was the best. "We came through a time warp from the year 1000. While exploring Arris Dome, we learned that there was a Gate – another time warp – here in this dome."

Alphonse nodded. "We found you when we came looking for the Gate! But the door to the inner chambers is locked, so we're out of luck..."

Robo walked over to the door and fiddled with it, even shoving on it at a couple of times. After about a minute, he stepped back and shook his head. "The power is off." Looking back at the others, he said, "If we go to the factory up north, I can pass through security and activate this dome's generator."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "You'd do that for us?"

The robot banged his metal body with a fist. "You repaired me," he stated plainly. "Now it's my turn to help you. But the generator won't run for long, so someone must stay behind to open the door while the power's on."

All eyes turned to Alexander, who sighed under the pressure. "Alright, alright... I'll stay. You guys need the experience more than I do, anyway."

"Experience?" Robo repeated, his tone raising in confusion.

Lucca patted him on the back. "We'll explain it while we search the factory." Looking back at the Interference, she said, "Alright, Alex. We'll be back." And, with that being said, the party of Crono, Lucca, Robo, Marle, Edward, and Alphonse left Alex behind to head for the factory.

* * *

Alexander figured he had been sitting around for about half an hour before he heard the faint hum of the power coming on. Still, he was glad to have the time; it was a break from the constant adventuring he'd been doing lately.

Alex ran over to one of the terminals, and pressed some random buttons to see what they would do. Upon pressing one of them, he heard a loud clicking noise, and the door in the back swung open. "Ah, good," he muttered. "That takes care of that."

He sat back down on the dirty platform, waiting for the rest of the party to arrive. "Now that I think about it," he said to himself, "what exactly happens in the factory, I wonder? Something pretty bad, I think..."

He was only allowed to wonder for maybe ten more minutes before he heard the dome door open at the other end of the room. Alex stood up and watched Alphonse carrying a beaten up Robo into the dome, helped out by Lucca and Crono. Edward and Marle watched worriedly.

Alex grimaced at Robo's condition as they set him down in the center of their platform. "What the heck happened to him in there!?"

Lucca seemed to be in a mix of rage and sorrow. "Robo here... met up with others of his kind in the factory. They called him a defect and tried to trash him..."

Alexander's grimace took a firmer hold on his expression. "Dang, I forgot. The R series robots... I shouldn't have let that happen..."

Robo finally decided to speak. Sparking at Lucca started to work, he stuttered, "C...can you r...repair... me?"

Lucca tried to smile. "Shh, don't talk."

Robo looked over to Alexander and the others. "You... are trying to save our world?" he asked with new understanding. It seemed everything had been explained to him while he'd been functioning in the factory.

Alex nodded. "I don't know how much I can help by being here, but that's the plan. Anyway, Robo, what are you going to do once you're repaired?" he asked quickly, hoping for the correct answer.

"What am I... going to do?" Robo asked, sounding confused by such a simple paradox.

Lucca moved to Robo's midsection. "Yeah. He means, what plans do you have for the future?" she said, doing her best to carry on the small talk Alex had offered.

After a moment, Robo did something resembling a chuckle. "Lucca, Alex, no one has ever asked me that before!"

* * *

A long while later, Robo was once again fully repaired and functional. "Good morning," he greeted all of them kindly. Alex was once again amused; Robo sure knew how to give a feeling of déjà vu.

Marle cheered. "Robo! You're alright!!!" she exclaimed, happy to see the robot working again. She grinned at the inventor beside her. "Lucca, you're incredible!"

Lucca sighed as she adjusted her glasses. "I hope I never have to do that again..." she muttered, obviously tired from the effort.

"Lucca," Robo began, looking over to the inventor as well, "I have made up my mind. I want to go with you..."

Edward did a take. "P-Pardon?" he mumbled, not expecting this statement from the robot.

"There is nothing left for me here," Robo explained. "Together, maybe we can give this planet of ours a chance. Like my brothers, my construction made me no stranger to combat. And it seems that you all have been doing quite a bit of that already."

Alexander grinned. "Alright, a new party member! The Gate's just ahead, so let's get going!" After everyone stated their agreement, they all walked through the open door to the inner chamber, where they immediately saw a dark orb hovering in the air.

Lucca reached for her Gate Key. "Hold on to your shorts!" she joked. But Alexander had already summoned his Lockshield and held it out to the Gate. A spark traveled between the shield and the orb, and the Gate expanded until it had become the familiar portal.

Lucca put away her Gate Key. "Hmm... Still wonder why that is..." But she shrugged it off and jumped into the Gate. She was followed by Alex, Edward, Alphonse, Marle, Crono, and finally Robo.

But as the final Chrono Trigger character stepped into the Gate, it began to spark. The Gate tried to close up again, but it stuttered a couple of times before finally sealing itself. An abnormal blue glow surrounded the portal just as it disappeared.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	9. New Family of Magic

Chapter 9  
New Family of Magic

The entire party landed on a shining pillar of light within a large platform. All around them was a gray, misty abyss. The platforms, resembling a nineteenth-century design in the fences and flooring, seemed to be floating in the middle of nowhere. There were two other pillar of light on this platform, they noted.

All seven party members stepped off the light, looking around with confusion and awe. "Where are we?" Robo asked, voicing the obvious question.

Crono led the way down some steps, which led to a wooden gate bordering another platform. This platform had a lamppost standing tall in the center, and an old man slept on his feet under the light. The man rested on a large wooden cane, and a bubble was attached to the man's nostril as he snored. Edward grimaced and gave the man a good shove. The bubble popped, and the old man looked up at them.

"Ah, more guests...!" he started quickly, looking around at the strangers.

This didn't help Lucca at all. "What do you mean, 'guest'...? And **where** are we!?" she demanded, her patience wearing thin already.

The old man grinned. "Why, this is 'The End of Time', of course! All lost travelers in time wind up here! Now, where are you from?"

"We're from Guardia Kingdom," Lucca replied, calming down a bit and gesturing at Crono and Marle, "circa 1000 AD."

Robo nodded at the old man. "I come from 2300 AD..."

The old man nodded to himself, as if confirming a suspicion. "When four or more beings step into a time warp, the Conservation of Time theorem states that they will turn up... at the space-time coordinates of least resistance." He gestured at the platform with his cane. "Here. Disturbances in the space-time continuum have increased recently. Far too many folks are just popping up in here... I fear something is having a powerful effect on the very fabric of time..."

Alexander shook his head. "Wait, back up a second. Four or more beings, right? Then how come this theorem hasn't come into effect now? There were four of us that went through the Gate at Leene Square, but we didn't end up here..."

The old man grinned at Alexander. "The Conservation of Time theorem is a law of this world. So, naturally, it doesn't apply to beings outside of this world."

"What!?" Alphonse exclaimed, staring at the old man intently. "You mean you already know about us being Interferences!?"

Alex scowled. "Some of the wiser people within an Interfered world become aware of their position within the game upon their creation. Back in the Kingdom Hearts universe, there was Yen Sid, Merlin, Xemnas, and King Mickey. In Amestris..." He paused for a moment. "Huh. We didn't meet any self-aware people in Amestris. Did no one become aware at all?"

"Still," Edward continued, returning to the current point in the subject, "this means that there can be no more than three Chrono Trigger characters in the party. One of you guys will have to stay."

Marle stared at Edward incredulously. "Stay **here**? **Alone**!?"

The old man nodded sadly. "It is pretty bleak here... But not to worry. All time periods connect here... You can visit your friends whenever you wish! But you can never travel in groups greater than three... or in your case, six."

Robo took this all in. "So, one of us must stay."

Lucca sighed and shifted her gaze to Crono. "Who'll it be, Crono?"

The red-haired protagonist, now realizing that the choice was his to make, looked among his fellow fighters to try making an informed decision. All of them were able fighters, and would need to experience gained ahead. But one of them had to stay, and Crono couldn't leave his job of being the main protagonist. That meant that the person staying would have to be the one that received the least disadvantage from being left behind here.

After a solid minute, Crono finally nodded and simply said, "Lucca."

Lucca scowled, but went ahead and took a place to sit on the platform. "Now don't you go getting any ideas, mister!" she berated him.

"...And there you have it," the old man declared. "Don't forget. You can use Alexander's Lockshield to switch between party members."

Alexander looked surprised. "What?! How can my Lockshield accomplish something like that?" he asked, more curious than astonished now.

"That weapon can have a connection to this world if the right catalyst enters your heart," the old man explained. "It's already made to be compatible; I'm sure you must have noticed the reaction between it and the time warps."

Alex frowned. Of course he had noticed it. But that still didn't tell him how he could help in switching party members when they were out in the field.

Marle decided to change the subject for now. "How do we get back to our own time?"

The old man gestured at the previous platform. "You see those lovely pillars of light? Those hook you up to different eras. Once you've been through a Gate, you can always use it to come here. To use a Gate from here, just step on the pillar of light and brandish whatever catalyst you use to open them, whether it be the Gate Key or the Lockshield. But beware the Gate that leads from that bucket..." Everyone looked at a bucket in the far corner of the platform, which had a light shining from it. The old man didn't say anything further, and no one inquired as such either.

The party looked around, and saw that the only other significant things in the End of Time were a path that dropped into the deep abyss and a door that also opened up into the middle of nowhere. With nothing else to do, Alex led the way back to the Gates.

"Hey," the old man said suddenly, just as they were passing back through the wooden gate. When the group returned to him, he said, "Don't be in such a rush! Before you go, take a peek inside the room behind me!"

* * *

The door behind the old man seemed to have nothing on the other side of it. But when it was actually opened, the group saw that there was yet another platform on the other side. It was a simple square platform, but there was a strange creature in the middle of the platform. It was a large, blue, humanoid thing, with horns on top of its head, large muscles in his upper body, and tiny stubby legs.

The creature stared at the seven fighters (Lucca had come along for this venture) curiously. "What're you lookin' at?" it asked suddenly. "I'm Spekkio. The Master of War! I've seen all kinds of battles from here." Smirking, he said, "How do I look to you guys?"

Alex gulped. "Strong!" he said quickly.  
Crono stared at Spekkio for a moment, but then shrugged passively.  
Lucca raised an eyebrow. "Weak?"  
Marle chuckled. "Weak."  
Edward tilted his head from side to side, but then decided, "Uh... somewhere in the middle."  
Alphonse nodded at his brother's statement. "Ditto, I guess."

Alexander stared at his comrades curiously. Were they all seeing something different? Of course, Spekkio was quick to remark, "I see. Let's put it this way. If you're strong, I look strong. If you're weak, I look weak. You are strong of will...! That's why the Old One let you through."

Spekkio sighed, as if reflecting on an old memory. "Long before you were born... there was a kingdom where magic flourished. Everyone there could use it! But in time, people began to abuse their powers. It got so bad that no one was allowed to use magic except wizards." He grinned at them all. "But you have it... determination, I mean! Magic needs power of the heart. It needs inner strength."

_**Wow,**_ Joumae remarked, **_the guys at Square certainly hit the mark when picking a name like Kingdom Hearts. 'Power of the heart' seems to be a common theme within these types of games, eh?_**

"Magic is divided into four types," Spekkio went on, bringing Alex out of listening to Joumae. "Lightning, Water, Fire, and Shadow."

He pointed at Crono suddenly. "You, with the punk hairdo! You're 'Lightning.'"

He then pointed at Marle. "The one with the ponytail is 'Water.'"

Pointing at Lucca, Spekkio said, "The one with the goofy glasses is 'Fire.'"

Spekkio snickered when he came across Robo. "That's the biggest toy I've ever seen... Hey, you're not alive, are you!? You've got great strength... however, since I can't measure your inner character, I can't give any magic to you. But your laser weapons will suffice. They can inflict 'Shadow' type damage."

Finally, he moved on to Edward. "You, with the metal limbs. You're also 'Fire.'"

Shifting his gaze to Alphonse, he declared, "The empty armor guy is 'Water' as well."

At last, he rested his gaze on Alexander. "And you...! Interference, you're 'Lightning.' However, your spells from Kingdom Hearts II can inflict all kinds of damage. Firaga would inflict 'Fire' damage, Blizzaga would inflict 'Water' damage, Thundaga will strike with more 'Lightning' damage, and Magnega will do some serious 'Shadow' damage."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. _Lightning?_ he thought._ With the darkness I've got in my heart, I thought I would be Shadow for sure._

"Not just magic," Spekkio went on, "but **everything** is based on the balance of these four powers. Think **'magic'**, and – starting along the door – walk clockwise around the walls of my room three times. Don't lose track now."

Confused but without other options, the party formed a line at the door and started walking slowly around the room clockwise. It resembled something like a conga line, the way they were walking uniformly as Spekkio watched them.

Once they had made the three rounds, they returned to Spekkio's presence, who smirked at them. "Very good! _Ispo facto, meeny moe... __**magico**_"

An aura of electricity crackled around Crono before being absorbed into his body. Crono became imbued with Lightning magic.

Rings of fire surrounded Edward and Lucca, then closed in and became absorbed by their bodies as well as Fire magic became planted in their hearts.

Bubbles of water encased Marle and Alphonse, which steadily became smaller and smaller until they had merged with the bodies of the fighters. Water magic was now in their very beings.

Alexander felt his hair stand up on end as an electrical aura surrounded him as well. Getting an idea, he summoned the Lockshield and held it up. He felt the aura pass over him and then suddenly shoot toward the center of the Lockshield. A searing pain came from his chest, and the Lockshield was covered in darkness for a few moments as he clutched at his heart.

The pain eventually faded, and the darkness left the Lockshield. What Alex saw surprised him. The Lockshield's design was different. It now had zig-zagging gold lightning bolts arcing out from the small keyhole in the center, and there was a black background color behind those. The lightning bolt designs barely extended beyond the rim of the blade, giving the Lockshield a somewhat serrated edge.

Alexander grinned, and thrust his new Lockshield over his head. He felt the name of the design enter his mind, and he immediately shouted it out: "**Lightning Guard**!"

Spekkio grinned at their reactions. "So! Fortified with magic! Wanna try it out?"

Crono nodded. "Yes." Robo stood back to watch, and the other six took battle positions around Spekkio, who also prepared for battle.

The others tried drawing out their weapons, but Alex shouted, "Don't bother with physical attacks! They'll all miss! We can only use the new magic we've attained." He dismissed the Lightning Guard Lockshield and closed his eyes thoughtfully. His clothes started to be blown by some strange force, and he raised his hands to the air. "_Lightning_!" A bolt of lightning came down and struck Spekkio, shocking him slightly.

Spekkio immediately shrugged off the electricity, and pointed at Alexander. Blue energy circled around Spekkio for a moment, then converged together and traveled along the ground toward the Interference. When it made contact, a huge block of ice suddenly appeared around Alexander, freezing him. The block soon dissolved into magical nothingness, but he was pretty damaged from the strike.

"Hey!" Marle shouted. "Try some of your own medicine!" Her clothes also started to move as she summoned magical energy. She thrust her hands out toward Spekkio and shouted, "_Ice_!" In a perfect replica of Spekkio's previous technique, Marle ended up encasing the Master of War within a block of ice as well for a second.

Lucca and Edward both began to summon their own magic. Edward looked a little awkward in doing it, but he managed. "_Fire_!" they both shouted simultaneously. Large will-o-wisps of fire circled around them for a moment, but were suddenly launched at Spekkio. Upon contact, they burst, burning Spekkio all over.

By now, Alphonse had already tried summoning magic of his own. "_Water_!" he yelled. Several bubbles appeared around him, which converged and formed one large bubble. The bubble slowly floated over to Spekkio, where it promptly burst and slammed water into Spekkio's face. It was actually more powerful than Alex had expected.

Crono raised his hands into the air, and yet another Lightning spell struck Spekkio. Yet, despite all of this bombardment, Spekkio looked rather unharmed. "Hah! I think that's enough practice today, chumps. You know the basic spells, at least."

* * *

As the party reentered the main platform, the old man at the lamppost said, "Hey." Upon seeing the group properly, he said, "Well, well! People who lived long ago **all** enjoyed such powers... Now, I know you are itching to go ripping back and forth through time, but first you need to return to your own era. And you must hurry. The longer you remain here, the harder it will be to change that which must be changed..." He paused for a moment, then said, "Stop by whenever you're in the area!"

Lucca went back to her spot, remembering that she was being the one left behind. Edward stared at his hands with astonishment. "Wow... Magic... So this is what it's like, huh? And these are only the basic spells..." He shook his head. "Man, that's trippy."

Alphonse looked confused. "Marle and I both got Water magic, right? So how come her spell was Ice and mine was Water?"

Alex shrugged. "There seem to be two families of Water magic here: Ice and Water. Not surprising, since water comes in those two forms most of the time. But, anyway, we should probably get going, like the old geezer said."

Lucca sighed. "When should I expect you guys back?" she asked in a sullen tone.

Alexander summoned the Lightning Guard and grinned at her. "Don't worry. I can use this to create a temporary Gate to this realm, allowing us to switch party members. Basically, I'm using the Conservation of Time theorem to our advantage. We'll see you soon, I'm sure."

Crono led the way back to the first platform, where the pillars of light still remained. Alex stepped onto the one on the right side, and a single phrase entered his mind: _Medina Village, 1000 AD._

"This one's the one," Alex mumbled, taking his place on the pillar. Crono, Robo, Marle, Edward, and Alphonse stood next to him, and Alex raised the Lockshield to the air. A bright blue glow surrounded them for a moment, and they were suddenly traveling through time all over again.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	10. Revenge of the Mystics

Chapter 10  
Revenge of the Mystics

In a small house within Medina Village, a Blue Imp and a Green Imp were sitting at their table, eating some leftover cake. Suddenly, they heard a strange noise coming from a closet in the back. The two Imps glanced at each other and stared at the closet for a few moments. The strange noise persisted. Strangely enough, it sounded like something you would associate with magic and portals...

The two Imps did a humongous take as the cabinet doors were forced open by the expansion of a large, dark blue portal. Crono, Robo, Marle, Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander stepped out of the Gate, looking rather perplexed at their entry point.

"Hey!" the Blue Imp exclaimed. "Did you people just come out of the closet!? Get outta here!"

They all looked back as they saw the closet doors close. Edward opened one of the doors a crack, and saw the small dark orb of the unopened Gate hovering inside. "...the hell?" he mumbled to himself.

"Who do you think you are?!" the Green Imp added, oblivious to their plight. "Coming and going out of our closet at all hours. Scram!"

Considering the fact that these were monsters berating them, it wasn't at all a surprise when Marle's clothes began to shift as she summoned magical energy. She cut it short, however, when she heard the Blue Imp's reaction: "You can use magic!? Magic-using humans supposedly perished long ago."

Crono raised an eyebrow. These two creatures weren't attacking them at all. Maybe a fight actually wasn't imminent.

Alphonse looked around. "So... what is this place, again? Alex, I think you said it was Medina Village?"

The Green Imp nodded in Alex's stead. "Medina Village was founded by the ancestors of the Mystics, who lost a war to human beings. Most Mystics hold a grudge against humans. Be careful..."

Alexander nodded back at the creature. "Alright, thanks for the advice. We'll make sure to keep that in mind." He started to lead the way out the front door.

"Hey, wait a minute," the Blue Imp said. As the party faced him once more, he continued, "There's an odd man who lives near the cave in the mountains to the west. You might enjoy a chat with him."

Marle grinned. "Thanks!" But then she paused for a moment and said, "Why are you being so nice? Mystics aren't supposed to get along with humans."

"Humans fought the Mystics over 400 years ago," the Green Imp remarked. "My motto is 'forgive and forget,' but not many seem to agree with me."

Robo bowed slightly. "Thank you for the information. We'll be leaving now." The party followed Alexander out the door and into the main square of Medina Village.

* * *

Just a short distance away was a large raised platform. A strange noise was coming from it. Marle blinked as they listened to the sound for a few moments. "Crono, what's that weird chanting?" she asked suddenly.

They all walked up to Medina Square's front steps and looked ahead. There were several Blue Imps there, as well as some Henches and Diablos. They were all either bowing to or walking around a large statue. It was of a tall, sinister-looking man with a scythe. Alex grimaced.

"Hut! Sir Magus. Hut! Sir Magus," the Blue Imps chanted.

"400 years have passed since Magus commanded the Mystics, and waged war against the humans," a Hench remarked wistfully as it walked around the statue. Then, with some glee in its voice, it added, "When Lavos is awakened, all humans are **doomed**! Mwa ha!"

A Diablos following suit nodded at the remark with a smirk. "As soon as Magus's creation, the mighty Lavos, awakens from his long sleep, the human race is doomed."

Another Hench joined in on the conversation. "Long ago, the almighty Magus brought forth the all-powerful Lavos."

The conversation would go on like this, with praises to Magus and Lavos, accompanied by some exposition on years gone by. But the party didn't need much more information. They all backed away and had their own discussion.

"So that's it!" Marle reasoned. "This Magus guy they're talking about... he must be the one that created Lavos!" She nodded to herself, saying, "I think I kinda remember something I learned about Guardia's history. The war with the Mystics... yeah, that's why they're all so hostile nowadays. It's a 400-year-old grudge."

Robo slowly began to see her point. "You think that if we go back in time and defeat this Magus, we might change your future?"

Crono nodded, agreeing with the idea. It was the best lead they had right now.

Edward, however, knew a little better. He looked at Alexander and said, "Well, Alex? Does all of this fit the bill, as far as you remember it?"

Alexander was about to make a noncommittal reply, but he was cut off by Alphonse. "Never mind that for now, brother. We should probably find our way out of here before these Mystics know we're here. We don't want to start a fight with the whole village."

The elder alchemist scowled. "Darn. I was actually kinda hoping for a fight."

* * *

They encountered a small hut near a cave in the west mountains, just like the Blue Imp had said. After some reassurance from Alexander, Crono opened the door to the hut and looked inside. There was an old man near the table, dressed in elaborate blue and red garments. The old man who had been selling weapons at the Millennial Fair. Alex remembered his name as Melchior.

As the party entered the hut, Melchior greeted them with, "Ah, hello! Could I interest you with a weapon?"

Before anyone else could reply, Crono said, "Yes, I'd like to buy one." Melchior smiled at the response and opened up a cloth package on the table. There were several weapons there, as well as some pieces of armor.

Alex pulled out his wallet from his pocket. Having spent pretty much nothing from the start of his first adventure, he had quite a bit of munny collected by now. Of course, since munny was compatible with the many different worlds, it had been automatically been converted to gold pieces by the world of Guardia. But still, it was quite a bit of gold to spare. It was like his wallet had become akin to Merlin's Bag of Holding, allowing for infinite space within a finite container.

In any case, there was more than enough gold to buy new weapons for everyone. There was a Red Katana for Crono, a Robin Bow for Marle, a Hammer Arm for Robo, and finally a Plasma Gun for Lucca, which Alex kept to give to Lucca later.

Melchior sighed as he wrapped his wares in the cloth again once all the business had been taken care of. "Weapons..." he muttered. "If there weren't evil in this world, there would be no need for weapons. What a sad state of affairs..."

The party was rather bemused by the irony of Mechior's disposition compared to his trade, but it was Alphonse who managed to bring them back down to earth. "Well, thank you for your business, Melchior," he said kindly. "We'll be going now."

As the group moved toward the door, Melchior suddenly said, "Should you desire to return to Truce Village, use the shortcut through the cave in the mountains to the north."

Alexander looked back and stared at Melchior long and hard. Alex remembered that Melchior played a large role later on, but he wondered whether the old man knew that already. He searched the man's face for a good solid while, but he only found an old man's expression. Nothing more. No sign of awareness of the game.

Alex sighed internally. "Alright. Thanks again, Melchior."

* * *

As soon as they were far enough away from Melchior's hut, Alex summoned the Lightning Guard and shouted, "_Unlock_!" A bright blue beam shot out from the small keyhole in the center, and stabbed into the air a few feet away from them. A flat portal appeared, giving the party a connection back to the main platform of the End of Time.

Lucca, who was on the other side of the portal, raised an eyebrow at the technique. "Well," she mumbled, "so you really are able to switch out members at the drop of a hat. Interesting..." She sounded less excited than her words might have suggested.

Alexander held up the Plasma Gun they had bought. "We bought you a new weapon here," he said through the portal, tossing it in and watching it fall into Lucca's hands on the other side. "It'll do a lot more damage than that air gun you started with, I should think."

Lucca inspected the weapon for a few moments, and actually smiled. "Thanks. This really does look like it'll help."

Alex waved as the portal began to close slowly. "See ya. We're on our way back to Truce Village, so we'll contact you again later."

The inventor only had enough time to nod before the portal had completely closed. Edward looked over at the mountain to the north of the hut, especially focusing on the large cave entrance at the front. "Great," he muttered, "so we hafta go dungeon-trekking. Why don't I like the sound of that?"

Alexander grinned at the remark. "Because you haven't been in many of the older RPGs," he retorted teasingly. "C'mon, let's get going already."

* * *

The party walked through the entrance to Heckran Cave. The first thing they saw was the igneous rock that the walls of the cave were made of. The rock shone with a dim blue – probably reflections off of water condensation; the air was thick with water vapor – which gave the cave its lighting.

The second thing they saw was a duo of Henches standing guard near the entrance, both giving the party a prejudiced look of seething hatred. "Death to the Mystics' enemies!" one of them shouted, as if to initiate the battle.

Crono drew out his new Red Katana and slashed the Hench down the middle. Robo followed up close behind him and gave the Hench a good solid punch with his Hammer Arm, throwing the Mystic back.

Marle expertly loaded her Robin Bow and fired at the other Hench, but the bolt missed by a centimeter. Edward began to summon some magical energy and shouted, "_Fire_!" A trail of flames encircled him and then flew toward the Hench, setting the monster aflame for a moment as it made contact.

Alphonse also used a magic spell. "_Water_!" A large bubble of water appeared and floated toward the Hench, which was currently trying to relieve itself of its burn. Upon contact, the bubble exploded, slamming a surprising amount of water into the Hench's body with considerable force. The Hench eventually disappeared.

Edward looked back at Alphonse with a disapproving look. "Be careful with that water, Alphonse. We don't need you washing off the blood seal in your armor."

Alexander lowered the Heartless Seal for a moment and looked back at them. "Huh, I hadn't even thought of tha– **augh**!" Just as he had been about to finish that sentence, the first Hench had come back and attacked Alex with a punch. Alex staggered, falling down to his knees as he clutched his shoulder.

Fortunately, Robo came up behind the Hench and punched it again, defeating it this time. Crono sheathed his sword and looked back at Alexander with a worried look.

Alex chuckled at Crono's unspoken concern, though the accompanying movement made his wound tinge with pain, making him wince. "I'm fine," he mumbled as he stood up. "That thing just hit a spot I'm not used to having hit, that's all."

Marle strapped her crossbow onto her back once more. "Well, let me try something. I think I might know another spell." Her clothes shuffled as she concentrated on the magical energy around her. Suddenly, she shouted, "_Cure_!" A green light enveloped Alex, who felt the pain in his shoulder go away.

Alex rubbed his shoulder and smirked. "Not bad. I didn't think you'd learned that technique already, but there's no harm done." Giving all of them a serious look, he explained, "The more you guys use this magic, the sooner you'll be able to use more powerful techniques. The fact that Marle can use Cure is great – that means I'm not the only healer anymore. Of course, the Water family gets stronger Cure spells, as well as the Life spells, which act as a revive in case anyone gets knocked out. I think the Lightning family also gets a basic Life spell in the late game."

He shrugged. "Anyway, that's enough exposition for now. Let's go." The party moved on through the cave, which made a left turn toward a couple of rope ladders leading down to a lower part of the cave, which they climbed down. At the far corner of this section of the room was a strange jar.

They had barely gotten within five yards of the jar when it suddenly contorted and spat out three pink octopus-like creatures, which landed right behind the party. It was a Jinn Bottle and a group of Octoblushes.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Alright, that's it! _Power_!" His head and limbs snapped back, and a bright light shot out from his body. When it faded, Marle and Robo had disappeared. However, Alexander was now wielding two Lockshields. The Heartless Seal was in his left hand, and the Lightning Guard was spinning in the air by his right hand. The golden color of his clothes confirmed that this was Master Form.

Alexander pointed the Heartless Seal at the Octoblushes and yelled, "_Thundaga_! _Thundaga_! _Thundaga_!" Two huge bolts of lightning struck the Mystic creatures at the sides, sending shockwaves that damaged all three of them. The third spell, which was the finisher, was especially large. It struck the middle Octoblush, doing enough damage overall to destroy all three of them.

The Master Interference then turned toward the Jinn Bottle. He remembered that this monster was especially resistant to physical damage, and would only be defeated by magic. He raised the Lightning Guard to summon a spell...

"_Fire_!"  
"_Water_!"

Crono, Edward, and Alphonse had cast a spell at the same time. A flame came from Edward's hands and burned the Jinn Bottle, followed by a burst of water that put out the enveloping flame. Then a lightning bolt came down and crashed on the monster. The Jinn Bottle became red and disappeared.

Alex gave the others a confused look. A bright light surrounded him for a moment, and he suddenly reverted to his normal form. Marle and Robo appeared beside him, looking especially confused.

Edward smirked at Alex's confusion. "We're not gonna let you have all the fun. And I don't care if you _were_ in your lousy Drive Form. The rest of us need the experience too, you know!"

Marle glanced at Alexander, still dazed from the sudden transformation. "Um... what was that thing?"

Alexander sighed at Edward's complaints, but he regained his composure and gave Marle a grin. "That was my Drive Form." Tugging at his jacket's sleeve, he explained, "These garments were given to me at the beginning of my first adventure. They have certain magical abilities. One of which being the ability to use my comrades' hearts to enhance my fighting abilities. The one I used was Master Form, the third one I gained. There's also Valor Form, which relies on physical attacks; Wisdom Form, that specializes in magic abilities; and then Final Form, which is the strongest of them. Then there's Anti Form, but..." He trailed off, not wanting to speak of it much further.

Robo glanced at a set of stairs on the other side of the room, leading down into the deeper rooms of the cave. "Let's hurry."

* * *

As they made their way through the water cave, the party noticed a major trend in the monsters they fought. With few exceptions, they were resistant to physical attacks. They required magic to defeat. "Funny how that happens right after we get magic from Spekkio, right?" Edward had sarcastically remarked after taking out a Cave Bat with a Fire spell.

After weaving through the watery maze in the main room, they reached a large chamber in the very back of the cave. They hadn't gone five steps beyond the entrance to the chamber before they heard a roar and a voice shout, "Death to the Mystics' enemies!"

_**It's the motto of the month, apparently,**_ Joumae grumbled.

A large, blue, reptilian monster stepped out from the back. It had a big dinosaur head with menacingly large fangs, as well as huge three-fingered claws. It also had spines on its back. Alex paled at the sight. "It's Heckran! The boss of this cave!" Brandishing the Heartless Seal, he added, "Watch out! Physical attacks do even worse against him! Just use your magic!"

Edward tried his best to summon some magic, but his arms failed him, and he dropped to one knee. "Dammit!" he growled. "Alex, I'm drained! I've used too many spells up 'till this point!"

"Aw, _flip_!" Alex cursed in reply. Looking at the others, he saw that most of them were also worse for the wear. He looked back at Heckran, and saw that the creature was clapping his hands together. When Heckran opened his arms wide, Alex felt the ground beneath him start to distort. Suddenly, a vortex of water came up and enveloped him, buffeting him and throwing him around. When the vortex disappeared, the momentum ended up sending him into the rock wall. He then fell to the ground, stunned.

Robo looked over at Heckran with determination. Suddenly, the armor encircling his midsection opened up, revealing two large laser cannons. "Get down, everyone!" the robot shouted. He started to spin around, blasting the lasers in all directions. They ran across Heckran's body plenty of times, damaging him greatly.

Edward stood back up once the technique had finished. "Maybe not my magic, but..." He ran toward the rock wall and clapped his hands. "Perhaps some alchemy!" The alchemist placed his hands on the wall. Out of blue sparks, a cannon turret extended from the rock. Edward quickly aimed the turret at Heckran and fired a single cannonball, which exploded and sent Heckran flying.

Meanwhile, Alphonse ran over to Alexander's limb body and summoned the last of his magic power. Concentrating carefully, he said, "_Heal_." A small green aura washed over Alex's body.

Alexander groaned as consciousness returned, allowing his sore muscles to complain to his nervous system. He stood up weakly, looking at Heckran to see what he'd missed. The monster glared at all of them, looking badly beaten. "If only the great Magus who brought forth Lavos 400 years ago... had destroyed the human race!" it complained. "The world would've belonged to us Mystics!" It roared, and a couple of bright flashes of light occurred. Heckran's body slowly became transparent and faded away to many colors, eventually disappearing altogether.

Marle scowled as she put her crossbow away. "In the Middle Ages, Magus created Lavos, who is responsible for destroying this planet's future."

"If we go to the Middle Ages and destroy Magus," Robo suggested, "can we change history?"

Alphonse seemed to get the point as he helped Alex regain his balance. "In that case, we could use the Gate at the Fairgrounds, couldn't we?"

The Fullmetal Alchemist transmuted the turret back into the rock wall and glanced at Alexander. "I don't know... Do we have all this information correct?"

Alex chuckled again. "You guys don't miss much now." Trying to stand on his own, he began, "If Magus had really successfully summoned Lavos hundreds of years ago, wouldn't this world's apocalypse have happened sooner? Considering the power Lavos has, I wonder if Magus even has the power to control that kind of thing, much less _create_ it. Maybe the Mystics have the wrong idea about it."

Marle sighed. "So all this information isn't leading us anywhere? So what do we do?"

Alexander thought for a moment. _Might as well go with the flow..._ "Still, the fact is that Magus at least tried to utilize Lavos's power. And he was the main leader in the Mystic-human war. So we should work to stop him anyway."

Crono poked his head out from around the next corner, and motioned for the others to join him. The rest of the party did so, and found themselves standing at the edge of a large vortex of water, probably extending deep into the ocean. Crono glanced at Alexander and simply asked, "Jump in?"

Alphonse started shaking. "I don't know... The blood seal connecting my soul to this armor might get washed away."

Alex summoned the Lightning Guard and pointed it to his side. "Then you wait at the End of Time until we wash up on the other side. It'll lead back to Truce. ..._Unlock_." He created a small portal again, connecting to the End of Time's main platform. Alphonse jumped through without a remark, with the portal closing behind him.

"So this will take us back to Truce Village?" Marle asked, looking more than a little nervous.

But her question went absolutely nowhere. Crono had already taken the plunge, descending down into the water and out of sight. Robo jumped in after him. Edward groaned and also stepped into the water, getting sucked down immediately. Marle jumped in with no more hesitation.

Alex sighed. He had spent three days as a merman in Atlantica, but he still didn't like the idea of being underwater. He rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "I wonder if there's a god I can curse in this world..." he muttered before jumping into the vortex with wild abandon.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	11. Battle for Zenan Bridge

Chapter 11  
Battle for Zenan Bridge

After what seemed like an eternity within the vortex, Alexander found himself being flung out from the water at high speed. The propulsion brought him high above the coast of Truce, and he started to plummet toward a cluster of trees, where the others had already landed. The Vortex Point.

Still, landing from that height at his current velocity didn't sound very pleasant, and he began to panic. He continued with his descent until the last second, where he suddenly spun around and rose a couple of feet before landing on the ground in one piece. A relatively soft landing, compared to what he had been expecting.

As soon as he realized what had happened, Alexander mentally kicked himself. That had been the Aerial Dodge, the Growth ability obtained when Master Form leveled up! He had completely neglected the Growth abilities during the last couple of adventures. And they were pretty useful abilities too. There was the High Jump from Valor Form, the Quick Run from Wisdom, and then the Glide from Final.

Snickering at Alex's plight, Joumae added, _**Well, heh, at least you have Aerial Dodge level 1.**_

"Hey, are you alright?" Edward asked Alex suddenly, sounding worried.

Alex realized that the expression on his face betrayed his internal struggle. He quickly turned his face into a neutral expression and replied, "Yeah, yeah, I just forgot something, that's all. Anyway..."

He summoned the Lockshield and created another portal to the End of Time. Alphonse and Lucca were waiting on the other side, as expected. As Alphonse came back through the portal, Alex said, "Lucca, we're switching you in for Robo," and gestured for Robo to enter the portal.

Lucca put her hand on the portal, but she couldn't move past it. However, as soon as Robo made contact with the portal, they were able to go through at the same time. Robo took a seat on the platform of the End of Time, and said, "Very well. I shall wait here until you need me again."

The inventor grinned and stretched. "Ah, it's good to be back in the party!" she exclaimed, her hand straying to her pistol. She looked around and asked, "So, what did I miss?" Before anyone could answer, though, she suddenly staggered and clutched her head.

Crono and Marle were the first to look worried. "Lucca!" Marle exclaimed. "Are you okay?!"

Lucca seemed to recover from the pain and shook her head. "Augh... That's a weird experience... It's like I was given a cinematic view of the entire time I was gone... in a single moment." Looking up at all of them, she said, "So you guys fought that Heckran thing, and decided to go take care of Magus by going back to the Middle Ages?"

Edward scowled. "That's _awfully_ convenient," he said with a little suspicion. "You're given the information you need upon reentry? What the hell is that about?!"

Everyone simultaneously turned toward Alexander, who could only grin sheepishly and shrug. "Hey, I have no idea. I'm not the one who decides how these things work in reality. But I wonder who does..."

Before Alex could start contemplating the existence of the person who did, Alphonse said, "Well, I don't think this is the time to worry about that. Let's get back to the Fairgrounds."

Alexander nodded. "But first, we have to make a quick stop in Truce Village."

* * *

"Why do we have to come here?" Edward wondered aloud as Alex opened the door to the Truce Village Market building. 

The man behind the counter watched them enter the building. "Come on in!!" he greeted them. He suddenly did a take as he recognized several members of the party. "Crono!! I owe you one! You saved my neck back there."

Alphonse took a surprised step back. "It's the guy in the guillotine back in Guardia's prison!"

Fritz nodded. "Man, was I up the creek!" he remarked. "I went off on a buying trip, and ended up getting jailed with a bunch of thieves! The officials planned to execute me without a trial! What has gotten into them!?"

A woman came to the counter and stood next to Fritz, smiling. "We're forever in your debt!" the woman, Elaine, added. This was probably Fritz's girlfriend, if not his wife. "Thank you, again!"

Fritz knelt down behind the counter and started shifting some of the contents around. "Hope my dad never hears about this," he muttered, before setting a grand total of **ten** Mid Ethers on the table. Crono grinned and quickly took them.

"Huh... hey!" a man's voice came from around the corner. The door in the back of the store opened up to reveal a rather chubby old man.

Elaine and Fritz jumped in fright. "D-Dad!!" Fritz stuttered.

The man walked over to the counter, but his face showed no malice. "Working hard?" he asked nonchalantly. He apparently had no idea about the illicit transaction.

Fritz soon came to this realization and nodded slowly. "But... of course!" he replied nervously. He looked to Elaine and said, "R-Right?"

Elaine, caught off guard, quickly nodded and said, "Y-Yes."

The man frowned but nodded back. "Alright..." he mumbled. He walked over to the counter and looked at the party. "Crono, everyone... I'm in your debt." He then left out the back door.

Fritz sighed and looked back at the party. "Now, Crono, down to business. Please, buy whatever you like!"

"No thanks," Alexander said, turning to leave. "The Ethers are all we need. They'll be a great help to us. Let's call us even."

"Alright, thanks again!" Fritz called after them as they left the store.

* * *

"So... what do Ethers do, anyway?" Alphonse hesitantly asked as the party approached the Gate in the Fairgrounds. 

Lucca looked at Alphonse incredulously as she pulled the Gate Key from her pocket. "Are you kidding? Ethers restore magic power, which is what we use for techniques! Mid Ethers restore a little more than normal Ethers do."

Edward growled something incoherent, and then exclaimed, "I'll bet! Why didn't we have any of those in the battle against Heckran!" He was obviously still angry about the moment where he'd run out of magic power.

A spark flashed between Lucca's Gate Key and the Gate, which expanded into a portal. All six fighters jumped in and began their travel through time again, though this time they were doing it on purpose at this place.

They soon appeared on the Gate platform at the End of Time, where two new pillars of light had appeared. The one they ended up on led back to the Fairgrounds, while the new one on the opposite side led into Truce Canyon in 600 AD. Which was where they headed.

* * *

After leaving Truce Canyon, Alex led the party a long way southwest, past Guardia Castle and directly south of the Cathedral. There was a bridge, where many knights were gathered on the near side. Zenan Bridge. 

The knights had first looked upon the party with hopeful eyes, but were dismayed to find only a bunch of teenagers. Still, they were quick to tell the tale that was unfolding here.

"It appears our knights and Magus's troops are locked in battle at the center of the bridge. May we emerge victorious!" one exclaimed, more to convince himself than the party, it seemed.

"We cannot beat Magus's army by ourselves," another interjected sulkily. "Our only hope is the Hero."

"Forming a protective ring around the Hero, the best Knights of the Kingdom kicked off the offensive," another explained to the party.

"Does the Hero alone have the power to take on Magus's army?" a knight muttered to himself, apparently doubting such a possibility.

Another knight sighed. "I never believed the stories about the Hero and his legendary medal... Now it turns out he's our only hope."

Alphonse glanced at Alexander once all of this exposition had been taken care of. "What's this Hero thing about?" he asked the Interference. "Do we have something to do with it?"

Alex shook his head. "Later. We'll deal with it–"

"Our rations have run out!" the Knight Captain yelled, cutting off Alexander's sentence. Glaring at the party, he shouted, "Have the supplies from Guardia Castle arrived _yet_!?"

Crono shook his head numbly. Marle looked past the knights blocking the way to the rest of the bridge. The sounds of battle could certainly be heard in the center of the bridge. "The castle isn't all that far from the bridge..." she reasoned. "Let's go there and see what's holding them up."

* * *

"Halt! Who goes there?!" a soldier shouted as the party entered the castle's front entrance. But once they got a little closer, they recognized the faces. "Oh, it's you again." 

Alexander nodded at them and led the way down the right hand hallway, and down the stairs into the chef's hall. As soon as they came down the stairs, they heard the sound of raised voices and rushed work.

"If I remember correctly," Lucca mumbled, "the King became rather ill during the middle of the war with Magus. The chef had to work hard to cook foods that would bring the King back to health."

Edward did a take. "Along with delivering food to the front line at Zenan Bridge!? Good grief, he's gotta be in a bad mood!"

Alexander had gone on ahead into the kitchen. The chef was dashing back and forth, obviously furious and frantic. The constant bombardment of questions from the maids weren't helping either. Alex quickly ran into the kitchen and walked over to the chef, finally catching him after a few attempts. "Uh, hello? Hey, the knights at Zenan Bridge have run out of rations. The Captain's wondering where the supplies will be ready!"

"What?" the chef shouted. "My brother!? He's..." He paused for a moment, and then growled, "That's what you get for thinkin' that you're the only ones fighting for your country!"

One of the maids glared at the chef. "Hey! Stop bickering! Grow up!"

The chef was silent for a while. But he soon glared back and retorted, "Pipe down! What do you know?" He then went back to work.

Alexander was rather surprised. He had forgotten that the Knight Captain and the chef were brothers. Apparently, they had been been in a major disagreement or two. He sighed and started walking back to his comrades.

The others were busy talking, but they quieted down as Alexander approached. "Well?" Edward asked. "Any good news?"

Alex shook his head silently and kept walking past them. He continued up the stairs, and the party reluctantly followed him. They almost made it to the front gates when they heard a voice behind them shouting, "Wait!"

The Interference looked back to see the chef running toward him with something in his arms. "...Take this with you!" he ordered, shoving a gigantic piece of jerky into Alex's hands. "And..." the chef added, "this is for you guys. Take it, will ya."

Alex took a small tab-like object from the chef's hands. The others moved in to study it from over his shoulder. Alexander put a little more pressure on the tab, and it suddenly disappeared in a small flash of red light. He felt himself become slightly stronger. "A Power Tab?"

The chef began to walk away. "And tell that fool..." he muttered, "...he had better come back alive!" He disappeared around the corner.

* * *

The party returned to Zenan Bridge. The situation had become decidedly worse. Many of the knights had either left the front or fallen in battle. Some were lying around the main camp, wounded and moaning. 

"The Hero has made it across the bridge somehow, but our troops have suffered heavy losses," a knight muttered, shaking his head.

Another knight nodded. "Mere mortals can never expect to beat Magus's troops."

Alexander glared at the non-player characters, but walked over to the Knight Captain with the jerky in his hands. The Captain looked surprised by the gesture. "Sir Alexander! Is that for us?"

"Yes," Alex replied, handing over the meat. "...It's from your brother. ...He says that you'd better come back alive."

The Captain grinned as he took the jerky, and announced, "Food rations!" The other knights immediately began to crowd around the party. "The cook... he has saved us all!" The Captain turned around and looked over at the sun, which was setting just over some dark, black clouds. He sighed and said, "Sir Alexander, if I do not make it back... give my brother my thanks..."

He was cut off by the sound of clashing blades nearby. The Knight Captain glared at the path ahead and demanded, "**What** is going on here!?"

A knight farther ahead came back to bring the bad news. "Magus's troops have launched an attack! They're breaking through our defenses!!!"

"Stop sniveling!" the Captain barked at the frantic knight. "It shames the Knights of the Square Table!"

_**Ugh,**_ Joumae groaned. **I'm_ going to be reeling from _that_ one for a while..._**

"We shall **destroy** Magus's troops and bring honor to our King!" the Captain continued, fortunately unaware of the counterpart's remarks.

"But... we are far outnumbered!" the knight complained.

The Captain paused for a moment, but then responded with, "This is our last line of defense. We must let no one through!"

"Understood!" the knight hesitantly agreed, before rushing back into the battle.

"Our troops are suffering greatly," the Captain added, turning toward the party. "Sir Alexander, Sir Crono, will you help us?"

"Yes," Crono replied, his tone leaving little to be desired in assurance. Alexander grinned and tightened the flame glove on his left hand. The others brought out their weapons and took battle stances.

The Captain smiled under his helmet. "We are eternally in your debt! You will find Magus's troops across the bridge! Take this with you!" He took a Gold Helm from a pile of spare armor and handed it to Crono, who put it on. The piece of armor seemed to merge with his regular garments, until it was barely distinguishable from his hair.

"Alright," Alex declared, having been waiting for this for quite a while, "let's _go_!!!" He led the charge across the bridge, summoning the Crimson Catalyst.

Up ahead, two skeleton monsters, called Deceased, stabbed the remaining knights with lances, letting them fall to the ground and die. A strange creature floated toward the party from behind the monsters, and the allies cringed. It looked like a Green Imp who had been fattened to insane proportions and then given fancy clothes.

"I'm Ozzie, Magus's top general!" the fat green creature declared. "Those who dare defy Magus have to answer to me!" He gestured at the monsters and said, "Yes, my children... Give 'em a taste of doom!"

Alexander smirked and snapped the fingers of his left hand. A spark traveled to the middle of the group and exploded, catching them all off guard and throwing them back. One of the Deceased turned red and faded away.

Edward shouted, "Crono! I have an idea! Use your Cyclone tech and let me do the rest!" Crono nodded and immediately ran toward Ozzie and the other Deceased and stood between them. As he spun around with his sword, Edward spawned a flame and threw it over to Crono, which caught onto his sword and set it aflame. The magically ignited sword caused the targets to start burning, and the ground beneath them turned slightly red.

Crono jumped back with his sword cooling down, and watched as the Deceased faded away. Ozzie, however, had apparently taken no damage. He was, though, very surprised. "Magic!?" he exclaimed. "_Humans_ with magic!?" The creature quickly regained his composure and said, "Hmph, such puny skills won't affect me! **Augh**!" At that moment, Alphonse had closed in and given him a punch directly in the face, knocking him back a long way.

Ozzie got up and started floating away. "Those wimps're stronger than I thought," he muttered. The party gave chase, until he stopped right in front of a group of fallen knights.

The fighters stopped right in the center of the group of dead soldiers. "He's pretty swift when it comes to running away," Lucca remarked as if Ozzie couldn't hear.

"Seems I misjudged you," Ozzie admitted. "But I won't do that twice!" He raised his hands into the air, and the party took fighting stances once again as the dead knights faded away and became Deceased. They were surrounded. "Grrrr! You're through!"

Edward ran toward the Deceased near Ozzie and gave it a kick with his metal leg. Alphonse, Crono, and Lucca joined him. Alexander focused on the two Deceased behind them. Marle looked at Alex and yelled, "I also have an idea! Work with me here!"

Alexander got the general idea of what she wanted to do. As she began to summon her magic, he jumped up into the air and positioned himself so that he was right above both of the Deceased. Marle quickly threw her Ice magic at the Lockshield, which became infused with the ice aura. Alex then crashed down with the Lockshield, creating a ring of ice around him that impaled the Deceased and defeated them.

"Drat!" Ozzie cursed as he saw that he was alone once again. He started running away again, but they soon reached the other side of the bridge. They had completely broken through his forces on the bridge, and it was just him now. "That's **it**!" he growled as he came to a stop. "Now you're finished!"

Edward grinned and shook his head. "Poor sport, huh?"

Ozzie started making strange gestures with his hands. The party heard a noise behind them, and looked to see a mass of bones floating toward them. The bones of those that had fallen in this battle. The bones all came together right behind the party, and glowed. When the light faded, they had fused to become one undead creature. A huge skeletal mass with a skull for a pelvis and one red eye in its main head, along with bony wings.

"Go, Zombor!" Ozzie declared as he ran away. "Crush Sir Magus's enemies!"

Zombor roared and moved in to fight them. Alexander growled and changed his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal. "Alright, time for another Drive! _Give me strength!_" Light shot out from his body and absorbed Crono. When the light faded, his clothes were a deep blue. He was skating on magical energy beneath his feet, and he held the Heartless Seal behind his back, spinning it around from time to time. Wisdom Form.

Alex skated toward Zombor and aimed the Heartless Seal at its skull pelvis. The major weak point, if he remembered correctly. He fired a blue blast of energy at it, which hit the target perfectly. Alexander continued to fire blasts from the Lockshield like this, skating around Zombor to make sure he wasn't a sitting duck.

The monster eventually took enough damage that it began to notice. It opened its mouth and launched fireballs at Alexander. Alex suddenly moved at a very high speed over a short distance, dodging through Zombor's legs. Alex mentally kicked himself again. Quick Run was such a useful skill!

Alex quickly turned around and shouted, "_Blizzaga_!" he launched a large ice crystal at the pelvis. The ice crystals made contact and shattered, doing damage to the entire body. Zombor roared as its legs and pelvis turned red and faded away. Its torso and head were now just floating on air.

"Alright, enough theatrics!" Lucca exclaimed, summoning her own energy. Edward began summoning magical energy as well. Simultaneously, they both launched a Fire spell at Zombor's torso and set it aflame. Alphonse quickly used a Water spell on it to quickly cool it down, causing even more damage.

The torso finally faded away, leaving the bridge empty. Alexander reverted, letting Crono appear beside him. Alex grinned and assumed his modest victory pose. Everyone else also celebrated just for the heck of it.

"The bridge is ours!" Alphonse declared.

Alexander nodded. "Now then, shall we get going? This war's not done yet!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	12. Not Quite A Hero

Chapter 12  
Not Quite A Hero

Alex led the party further south, past a small village and a villa in the middle of the small wasteland. From there, he led the way northwest, into the Cursed Woods. "There's someone we have to visit here," he explained, knowing that the party had no reason to come here otherwise.

Stepping carefully as to avoid contact with the frog-like monsters known as T'poles, along with the Gnawer serpents, they made their way to the back of the forest clearing, where they saw a bush rustling. Alex walked behind it, and pointed out a ladder leading down to some kind of underground chamber.

And, obviously, they climbed down the ladder. There wasn't much, but it was apparently someone's home. There was a bed, a cabinet, a desk with a lit candle upon it, and a couple of makeshift pots in the large cave. They had barely made note of any of these things before they heard a voice from somewhere shouting, "Who's there!?"

A small green figure dropped down out of nowhere, startling several members of the party. "Good grief!" Edward exclaimed, slowly regaining his composure. After recognizing the stranger, he said, "You don't have to make an entrance like _that_, Frog!"

"'Tis my home, and I shalt enter it however I choose," Frog retorted with something of a smirk. Facing the others, he greeted them with, "'Tis thee, Crono! Thou art here to practice thy skill in swordplay?" He ribbited in a fashion that seemed to be meant as a chuckle.

Lucca shook her head. "We're not here for that, Frog... The King's not well, and we need your help."

Frog jumped in surprise. "What!? The King hast been injured?" He remained silent for a moment, muttering, "I see..." After a few moments of contemplation, he closed his eyes and turned away. "'Tis nary a thing I canst do... Please be on thy way."

When Crono tried to approach him, Frog added, "The Hero, I am not. I can do naught."

Alexander sighed. No progress yet. "Well, we'll just have to see, Frog. Who knows? Maybe the Hero Medal is in the wrong hands."

Everyone glanced at him, with the exception of Frog. Marle frowned at the Interference. "Are you foreshadowing something again?"

Alex grinned at her as he walked back toward the ladder. "What, have I become that transparent already?" he asked with mock innocence.

* * *

Just southwest of the Cursed Woods was Porre Village. Deciding to temporarily split up there, they managed to get information on the so-called Hero. It seemed that a boy in the village, a rather naughty troublemaker named Tata, had found the Hero Medal and declared himself the Hero. That was the general information amongst the townsfolk, but the party soon regrouped to discuss the specifics.

"It has to be the real thing," Alphonse remarked, coming to the conclusion that no eight-year-old could've possibly gotten this far with a lie and a fake.

"His dad was awfully proud of the runt," Lucca added, having visited Tata's house. "Couldn't get a word out of him as to where the boy's gone, though."

"Everyone in town's crazy about the whole thing," Edward growled. "Everyone from the innkeeper to the village elder. Though I did get a rumor from one woman in the elder's house that Tata had gone to some mountains in the north to find some legendary sword."

Alex nodded. "That would be Denadoro Mountains. He's certainly looking in the right place, but he's probably too young to handle any monsters that might be up there. Let's hurry over there."

The Denadoro Mountains were just north of the villa in the middle of the continent. Not exactly hard to get to. But it was here that the real trouble started.

They hadn't gotten within two feet of the area before a couple of blue Bellbirds started shaking around and ringing their bells, waking up the two large Goblin creatures. Alex summoned the Lightning Guard Lockshield, shouting, "Fire magic will be pretty helpful here!"

"Right on it!" Lucca shouted as she and Edward started summoning some magic. Meanwhile, Marle shot a crossbow bolt at one of the Bellbirds, knocking it down from the air.

"_Fire_!" Edward and Lucca shouted simultaneously, hurling fireball trails at the two Goblins, just as the monsters were about to attack Crono and Alphonse. The Goblins howled in pain and faded away.

Alex hefted his shield up and yelled, "_Strike Raid_!" He hurled his shield at the other Bellbird, the spinning shield slamming into the creature at high speed. The monster didn't even hit the ground before it faded away.

The party moved along the path, which winded around the pond that was fed by the stream on the far right. They eventually reached a rope ladder that led to another rock platform ahead. But they got just within reach of it before they heard, "Aaagh!"

"What the...?" Alex exclaimed, caught off guard rather than confused. A short, dark-haired kid with a red cape and and a shiny medal on his tiny armor jumped down the rope ladder, apparently on the run. For good reason, too; there was a Goblin right behind him! The Goblin stopped in front of the party, which took battle stances once again.

Alexander rushed in and bashed the Goblin a few times with the Lightning Guard before stepping back. Edward transmuted his arm and created a blade on his wrist, which he used to cut the Goblin down to size. Enraged, the Goblin charged forward and swung its fist at the alchemist, which landed with surprising force.

"Edward!" Lucca cried out, firing a shot at the Goblin. But the shot _missed_. Still enraged by the pain, the Goblin charged toward Alexander.

Alex hefted his Lockshield up over his head and yelled, "_Slash_!" before bringing it vertically down to the ground. The shield's blade created a blade of energy where he cut the air, which raced toward the monster and cut through it, finally defeating it.

As the party took care of their weapons, the boy from before appeared on the cliff above them. "Th-this is a terrible place!" he stuttered, obviously scared out of his wits. "Y-you'd best run away while you can!" Letting out a surprised cry, he disappeared again as an Ogan – a Goblin wielding a large wooden hammer – came down the rope ladder.

The Ogan brandished the hammer menacingly. Crono charged in to attack the monster, but his sword didn't get far past the hammer. The Ogan forced him back by blocking his attack with the handle of the hammer.

"I don't think so! _Fire_!" Lucca intoned. She threw a fireball directly at the wooden hammer, which, despite its size, burned away almost instantly in the flame that completely enveloped it. The Ogan (now just a Goblin) suddenly panicked.

Using the panic as a distraction, Alex charged in and sliced the Goblin with the serrated edge of the Lightning Guard, ripping it to shreds and making it fade away. With no more distractions this time, the party finally made it up the rope ladder.

Alex quietly shushed the other fighters as they came to the next rock platform, gesturing at a sleeping Goblin on the outcropping to the side. They quietly sneaked past it, and then traversed the winding path to the next rope ladder, leading up to the next platform.

This time they weren't so lucky. There were two sleeping monsters, but the path ahead of them rounded a corner that was too close to sneak by on. They barely took a couple of steps before the Goblin and the Ogan woke up and quickly identified their prey. Edward lobbed another Fire spell at the Ogan to burn the wooden hammer, immediately rendering it less dangerous.

Alex raised his Lockshield into the air. "_Lightning_!" Golden energy rose up from his body, and a large bolt of lightning crashed down on the original Goblin. Lucca shot her gun at it, laying the finishing blow.

Alphonse ran over to the ex-Ogan, which was still pretty dazed by the loss of its hammer. He punched the large monster to send it off balance, and then kicked it hard in the chest, sending it flying over the edge of the platform. They didn't hear a landing of any sort, but they didn't need to hear it anyway.

They took the turn right and walked across the wooden bridge, which hung over the stream between the rock platforms, which was fed by a small waterfall. After crossing the bridge, the stone path took another right, leading to another small clearing with a rope ladder. Alex silently motioned for the others to stop, and slowly walked toward the border of the clearing.

Out of nowhere, an Ogan charged forward and swung its hammer, barely missing Alexander. Barely _noticing_ him either – it stood there looking confused for a few moments. Obviously, the Ogan had been expecting an unsuspecting adventurer to wander around the corner as he had been charging forward.

_**Sucks to be him,**_ Joumae remarked. Alex smirked and sent a roundhouse kick into the Ogan's back, sending it falling over the edge of the cliff and landing on the ground with a crash. They heard the faint noise of the monster fading away. After that, the party climbed the rope ladder and followed the path a little further.

After another right turn, they came to a path with trees overhanging above them, giving the area an eerie shade. As they took a few steps forward, a monster suddenly dropped down from the near cliff. It looked like a humanoid raven that had donned ninja clothing and been given a katana. Free Lancers.

The Free Lancer spun around and tried to slash Alexander, who quickly guarded against the attack with his shield. Alex then parried the sword and spun around, shifting his center of gravity to keep spinning with his shield outstretched, slashing the Free Lancer multiple times. The Cyclone technique, albeit being mostly improvised. The Free Lancer faded away after the onslaught of attacks.

Alex decided that they needed to move on quickly. They climbed a couple more rope ladders, scaling to newer heights in the shaded area. On the plateau of the second platfor, they were immediately greeted by an Ogan. Edward used a quick Fire spell to use the same tactic of burning the hammer away. Alexander and Crono then converged on the Goblin, slashing it in an X pattern in one shot. The Goblin soon faded away.

"This is becoming easier," Alphonse noted.

Edward groaned. "Don't say that, Al! You've jinxed us! Now I'll bet that there'll be a big boss at the end of this."

The Interference chuckled to himself, but quickly led the way again. They soon encountered another Free Lancer and a sleeping Ogan. Alex hoped to take out the Free Lancer while avoiding the Ogan, but that plan was derailed as the Free Lancer threw a stone at the large brute to wake it up. The Ogan quickly woke up and grabbed its hammer, while the Free Lancer took position on a small pillar of stone to the side.

Edward tried to summon a Fire spell, but he was already drained. While he ran over to Crono to retrieve a Mid Ether, Alexander faced the Ogan. The monster tried bringing its hammer down on him, but Alex blocked it with his shield. Getting an idea, Alex switched his shield to the Heartless Seal. "_Firaga_!" A large ring of fire encircled him, swallowing up not only the hammer but the Ogan itself.

Meanwhile, Lucca and Marle dodged the small shurikens that the Free Lancer was lobbing at them. Lucca fired a shot at the monster, which landed but didn't seem to faze it much. Marle let a crossbow bolt fly, and it impaled the monster with ease, quickly defeating it.

By this time, Edward had finally gotten a hold of a Mid Ether and downed it. He was rather disappointed to see that the battle had ended without him, however. Still, he shrugged it off as Crono took the lead onward.

They came back to the waterfall area, but they were much higher up the mountain now. Alexander suddenly dashed forward, racing to the next rope ladder. Edward cried out as a stone impacted his head with a thud. The young alchemist glared over at the opposite cliff and glared at a Free Lancer that was hurling more stones at them. The party continued at a much faster pace, trying to outrun the onslaught of projectiles. Eventually, they were able to duck into another shaded section without sustaining more damage.

The party continued through this area without any trouble, scaling a few more platforms before moving on at last. They were now greeted with a sight of the rest of the continent – they had reached the summit. Their pleasure was short-lived, however, because a couple of Ogans came out from behind the adjacent trees to confront them.

Edward, feeling refreshed after taking an Ether, conjured up a quick Fire spell, but then decided that it was getting boring. "Alex, let's try something!" he shouted, holding the spell back for a moment. Alex nodded at him and jumped toward one of the Ogans. Just as he was at the peak of his jump, Edward lobbed the fireball at his Lockshield. The fireball encircled Alex's weapon, which followed him as he stabbed down at the monster. The dual technique was enough to defeat it.

Alphonse dodged the other Ogan's hammer, and suddenly snatched the other end. The Ogan tried to pull it away, but Alphonse held on firm. While the Ogan was distracted by this, Marle and Lucca both fired their weapons at the monster at the same time. The damage it sustained loosened its grip on the hammer, which Alphonse pulled away and slammed into the Ogan's stomach. The other Ogan finally faded away like its comrade.

Suddenly, another Ogan came from the path ahead, and a Free Lancer appeared from behind them. Alex's eyes went wide. "Crud! I forgot that they come in waves at this point!" Thinking quickly, he shouted, "_Give me strength_!" Light shot out from his body, and Alphonse disappeared. When the light faded, Alex's clothes were bright red, and he held both the Lightning Guard and Crimson Catalyst Lockshields in his hands. As Alex felt the energy course through his hands and weapons, he couldn't help but smirk. Valor Form was such a trip.

Alex dashed toward the Ogan, using the Crimson Catalyst to push the hammer out of the way and the Lightning Guard to land a couple of hits on the monster. He then used both weapons and slammed them into the beast's head, sending it crashing into the ground. By this time, the others had taken care of the other Free Lancer.

A Goblin and an Ogan appeared next. Alexander jumped forward and landed four hits on the Goblin. He then slammed both Lockshields into the ground, creating a shockwave of energy that sent both monsters flying into the air. He hit the two monsters a couple more times, and then swung wildly at the air, sending Slash blades in all directions. The monsters were ripped to shreds by the technique.

Two more Free Lancers and an Ogan appeared up ahead. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. Stone fists rose up from the ground and sent the Ogan and one of the Free Lancers flying. Alexander grinned and used a High Jump to get into the air, attacking the surprised Ogan with an aerial combo. He knocked the Ogan off the cliff as a finisher, and then crashed down on top of the Free Lancer as it landed, completely crushing it.

Marle sent an Ice spell at the last Free Lancer, completely freezing it for a moment. In that moment, Alex jumped up and brought both Lockshields down on the frozen monster, shearing the ice block in half and defeating it. His clothes reverted, and Alphonse appeared beside him. Alex dismissed the Lightning Guard and sighed, breathing heavily. That had been quite a workout.

The next area happened to be in the stream just behind the waterfall. Two Free Lancers were on a little spot of land in the stream, practicing their ability to throw shuriken. As the party approached, however, a Bellbird appeared and rung its bell incessantly, alerting the Free Lancers to the battle. Edward scowled and transmuted a large hammer out of the ground, charging forward. The alchemist leaped into the air and slammed the head of the hammer into the Bellbird, knocking it far back. Edward then clapped his hands and transmuted the hammer into a huge ax, spinning around with it to cleave the Free Lancers in half with one shot.

The party ran across the stream and walked up a hill into the next patch of land on the other side of the river. They found a Free Lancer there, simply swinging his sword in practice over and over again. When the party approached, the Free Lancer glared at them and yelled, "Shut up! Get lost!" Confused yet glad that they didn't have to fight this one, the group climbed down a rope ladder and continued to the next area.

They came to a long wooden bridge, spanning between two cliffs that had a rather frightening view of the clouds below. After crossing it, they found a primate-type creature staring over the edge of the other cliff. Crono walked over to the creature, who looked at him and remarked, "Mountains're nice."

"Huh. Really?" Alex mused, a memory of the game coming back to him.

The creature nodded and looked back over the edge. "This's the life," it repeated, a little insistent this time.

"You sure?" Alexander inquired, his suspicions confirmed.

"Mountains're nice," it repeated once more, its irritation clearly evident.

"I see..." Alex muttered.

The creature rolled its eyes and held up a tab item. "Man, you're nosy. Here, take this." Alexander took the Magic Tab from the creature, and finally let it alone.

Edward quickly grabbed the tab and crushed it, allowing his magic to be boosted slightly. "Yeah, I think I need this the most," he said with a prideful chuckle, knowing that no one could argue with him now.

The party continued downward, climbing down several rope ladders and getting to a lower area than before. They eventually came back to the same area where they'd found a Free Lancer throwing stones at them. Fortunately, they were now on the other side. Running to avoid the Free Lancer's projectiles again, they foolishly jumped down a rope ladder that had been cut in half. Now they weren't going back. What was worse, they were on a platform with three sleeping Goblins on it.

Alex quickly ran around the Goblins and tried to climb up the rope ladder to where the Free Lancer was. But the monster slashed its sword and knocked Alex off the ladder, while another similar monster appeared from the other side to attack. Alex's bumpy landing caused enough of a tremor to wake the Goblins up. _**Not that it takes much to wake these guys,**_ Joumae noticed.

Marle raised her hands into the air and shouted, "_Cure_!" A green aura surrounding Alex, healing the pains he had received on the landing. Edward raised his hammer up and then brought it down on top of the Free Lancer, effectively crushing it.

A Goblin rushed toward Crono to attack while he wasn't looking. Seeing this, Lucca summoned magical energy and yelled, "_Protect_!" A golden aura suddenly enveloped Crono's body and remained there. The Goblin's attack hit the mark, but its impact was apparently softened by the presence of the aura. Crono quickly countered it by slashing it twice. A punch from Alphonse finished that one off.

Alexander noticed the Protect spell, immediately intrigued. He vaguely remembered Lucca having that spell in her techs list, but Alex himself had never used it in the game. He hadn't felt that it was worth it. Now, in the reality, it seemed like it would become a very valuable tool. Alex turned around and bashed a Goblin that was trying to ambush him, hitting it again to send it plummeting off the edge of the cliff.

Marle shot a crossbow bolt at a Goblin, but it missed. She reloaded as quickly as she could, but the Goblin was now charging in too fast, and no one was close enough to help her. Thinking quickly, she summoned magic and yelled, "_Haste_!" A red pillar of light shone down on her for a moment, leaving a red aura around her body. Suddenly moving at an unreal speed, she loaded another bolt and fired it at point blank range, impaling the Goblin and letting it fade away.

Alex was impressed again. Haste had been another spell that had been appreciated yet hardly ever used. Now the speed boost looked like a very worthwhile asset. _Too bad the Lightning magic group doesn't have that..._

_**But very good that you have to rely on other team members for those luxuries,**_ Joumae muttered. **_We don't need your head getting too big._**

Alex scowled. _This is coming from you, of all people?_

Crono tried climbing the rope ladder again. The Free Lancer, noticing that its backup was gone, jumped over to the previous ledge and stayed out of the way. Alex knew better than to go after it again, so he merely followed Crono along with the others. Just ahead, they saw the entrance to a cavern.

Edward looked upon the cavern entrance with a look of mixed relief and concern. "Well, at least we _finally_ reached the end of this," he mumbled.

* * *

The cavern was rather large, but it didn't hold much. There was a small raised section in the back of the cave, with a pillar of light shining down there from a hole in the roof of the rocky ceiling. The only other thing to find there was a strange little kid running around.

"I'm the wind!" the child proclaimed as it ran around, concealing his awareness of the party's presence. "Whoosh!"

Alphonse stepped around the kid, saying, "Excuse me." He walked over to the raised section of the cavern, and did a take at what he saw in the pillar of light. "Hey, guys!" he shouted. "There's a sword stuck in the ground here!"

Marle's jaw dropped. "Really!?" she said incredulously, running over to the platform. Sure enough, there was a rather impressive-looking broadsword sticking vertically out of the ground, its crimson hilt and steel blade shining under the light.

However, before she could get close enough to the sword, a child's voice yelled, "Stop!" The kid jumped up to the platform and stood between them and the sword. "Are you here for the Masamune?" he asked, his tone perfectly serious.

"The Masamune?" Alex asked, feigning ignorance. After a moment of fake contemplation, he nodded and said, "Yes," with full knowledge of what he was invoking.

The kid nodded, his expression crestfallen. "Thought so... Wait a second, okay?" He turned toward the sword and looked up. "Oh big broooother..." he called out, but got no answer. Scowling, the kid yelled, "Where are you, Masa!?"

Another kid, looking exactly the same as the first, came out from behind the sword. It seemed he had just appeared out of nowhere, considering that there was very little possibility of the sword being able to conceal him. "What is it, Mune?" the boy asked.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "_Masa and Mune? Masamune? I'm not liking the sound of this..._" he whispered to Alex and Alphonse.

Alex smirked. "_You're getting better,_" he whispered back.

The boy, apparently Masa, looked surprised at the presence of visitors. "Not again!?" Regaining his composure, the boy continued, "So! You want to get a name for yourself by grabbing the Masamune? What a buffoon!"

"Hey!" Lucca shouted back, annoyed at being called a buffoon. "We're not here for–"

Mune nodded and cut Lucca off with, "Humans are so... _silly_! It's how you **use** the sword that's important... not who owns it!"

Crono began to take a few steps back. The fact that the word "humans" had been used in such a context had given him strong convictions as to what these boys really were. Everyone else began to back off toward the larger section of the cave as well. There was more room there.

"You can't even understand something as simple as that," Masa muttered. "That's why you're human."

Alexander growled and shouted, "Look, we're not here to obtain it for ourselves! Someone else needs that sword to help the rest of us take down Magus! It's our only chance!"

Mune ignored him, turning toward his brother. "What should we do?"

"The usual..." Masa replied, "test them. They can entertain us for a while."

Mune grinned as both boys turned toward the party, which was now looking ready for battle. "Alright! Here we go!!! Whoosh!" The two boys jumped into the air, spinning around for a moment as their transformation ensued. Bright flashes enveloped both of them, and they dropped to the ground in front of the party in their new forms. They were small, reptilian, golden-skinned creatures with sharp, pointed ears and blank white eyes. They both wore white robes, but Masa's collar was violet while Mune's was green.

"Focus on only one of them!" Alex advised. "The two apart are powerless – as soon as one goes down, so will the other!"

Hearing this truth, Masa immediately rushed in and attacked Lucca, swiping his arm at her twice like a blade and damaging her before jumping back to join his comrade. Lucca scowled and shot at Masa, who took the hit. Edward nodded and clapped his hands. "Alright, so it's Masa!" He placed his hands on the ground and exchanged his hammer for his lance from the ground.

Alphonse tried summoning magic power, but he suddenly stopped. "Crono, I need an Ether," he mumbled as he dodged an attack from Mune.

"That sounds like a good idea," Marle noted. "Crono, Ethers all around!"

Crono nodded and distributed one Mid Ether to each of the party members, and took one for himself. Everyone else used their Ethers to regain their magic power immediately. Alex grinned as he felt his magic return. Having that power always felt good.

Edward stared at the empty Ether bottle for a moment. "Actually, I might have a use for this. _Fire_." He placed his hand on the bottle, and a small flame appeared on the inside. The glass container began to glow red as it heated up. Smirking, Edward lobbed the heated Ether bottle into the fray, shouting, "Fire in the hole!"

The party ducked out of range. As soon as the burning Ether bottle hit the ground, it immediately shattered, the glass shards shooting at high speeds in all directions with the extra heat energy. Masa and Mune, who had been on either side of the explosion, were cut up extensively.

Golden energy rose up from Crono's body, and a bolt of lightning crashed down on top of Mune, who suddenly staggered. Almost in response, Masa staggered as well. They had been weakened plenty enough.

"Hey, they're pretty tough," Mune admitted to his brother.

Masa nodded as he and his sibling hopped in place. They seemed to simply have too much energy in idleness. "Only Cyrus made it this far."

Mune looked at Masa nervously, asking, "What should we do?"

"This time it's for real!" Masa replied with a grin. Alexander immediately returned to a fighting stance at those words.

"Alright, this is it..." Mune said, turning back toward the party.

"Yeah. We mean business!" Masa agreed.

Masa and Mune stepped back from each other and poised themselves. They charged forward and crossed each other, beginning to glow as they made contact. Edward rolled his eyes. "You have got to be freakin' kidding me!"

A black orb of energy enveloped the two shining brothers, their bright silhouettes almost becoming indistinguishable. Suddenly, the black orb dissipated, leaving a large muscular creature standing in its place. Alex was greatly reminded of Spekkio when he saw it.

"Marle!" Alex yelled. "Start casting Haste on everyone! We'll need it! Lucca, start using Protect to give us extra defense!"

Marle and Lucca nodded, and began to summon their respective energies. Edward twirled his lance and stood in his stance. "And the rest of us?" he asked Alexander.

Alex took a tentative step back as Masa & Mune walked toward them. "We hold out until then!"

Alphonse charged forward and gave Masa & Mune a swift kick in the gut. It seemed to do decent enough damage, but it didn't faze the creature much. Masa & Mune clapped its hands together and brought them down diagonally on Alphonse, landing a powerful hit that knocked him back.

By now, Marle and Lucca had cast Protect and Haste on Crono. The young swordsman quickly charged in at a high speed, jumping up and slashing down on Masa & Mune. The monster tried to punch him, but the Protect aura absorbed much of the damage. Masa & Mune then lobbed a swirling vortex of energy at Crono's feet, which summoned a vortex of wind out of nowhere that lifted Crono into the air, letting him land with a dangerously heavy impact.

Now the two girls had cast Protect and Haste on the Elric brothers. Edward grinned and shouted, "Al!" He clapped his hands and looked at his brother meaningfully.

Alphonse nodded, getting his idea. "Gotcha!" Edward nodded and placed his hands on the ground. A large, spiked stone pillar rose up out of the ground, easily more than twice Alphonse's height. Alphonse grabbed it and, with his enhanced speed, spun it around quickly, creating a whirlwind and buffeting Masa & Mune many times over.

The creature stepped back and stopped its advance, looking somewhat contemplative now. After a few moments, Alex realized that Masa & Mune was gathering energy for some large attack. He lifted the Lightning Guard up and intoned, "_Slash_!" He brought the Lockshield down, creating a blade of energy that sliced through Masa & Mune, who suddenly looked around in confusion.

Alex grinned wider. Slash had the special property of being able to make energy dissipate in situations like this. Suddenly, he felt a red and golden light surround him. Marle and Lucca had finally gotten to him with their spells.

Protect was rather interesting. He could feel the aura on his body like he would feel a piece of clothing, yet it didn't restrict his movement or his breathing at all. On the other hand, Haste was something else entirely. Alex had been Slowed back in the Cathedral, so he knew that this was quite the opposite experience. Now everything seemed to be moving slower than him, and even the air around him felt lighter.

Alexander jumped forward, heading for Masa & Mune's face. He gave the creature a quick spin kick to the side of its head, then a downward slash with the edge of his Lockshield, and finally a solid smashing with the face of his Lockshield meeting the monster's own face. Masa & Mune stumbled back, greatly weakened now.

A couple of bright flashes sparked within the room. The creature that was Masa & Mune slowly began to fade away, becoming a bright silhouette before becoming nothing. The glowing forms of the individuals Masa and Mune appeared, separating and reverting back to their original disguises as children.

Mune looked back toward his brother, looking a little ashamed. "They beat us, big brother..."

Masa shrugged, having a huge grin on his face. "That was fun!"

Mune still looked a little uncertain. "Will they fix us? Will they find us an owner?"

Masa glanced at Alexander, then looked back at his little brother. "Yeah, it'll be alright." The two brothers silently walked back up to the raised section, disappearing behind the sword before the party got there.

Edward sighed, transmuting his lance back into the ground. "Who knew that a little couple of siblings could be so much trouble for us?" he groaned.

Lucca smirked, and poked Edward with the business end of her gun. "You and _your_ sibling aren't innocent of that yourselves, you hypocrite. Especially when it comes to the 'little' part."

"**What did you say!?**" Edward snarled, turning on Lucca, who was laughing out loud as Edward chased her. Alphonse ran after his brother to try to remedy the situation.

While the crazy circumstance ensued, Alex knelt down to the sword. It suddenly glowed and rose up out of the ground, completely enveloped by white light. Slowly, it came back down to the rock floor, regaining its original shape again. But now it was just the broken blade of the sword.

Crono picked up the broken blade, and Marle examined it. "Oh, so this is the Masamune..." she mumbled. "But it looks like it's been broken for ages." Crono shrugged and put the broken Masamune away.

"**Augh**!" Edward groaned loudly. Everyone looked back to Edward, who was being restrained by Alphonse. "I just realized something," the alchemist explained. "We now have to climb all the way back down this mountain now!!!"

A wind suddenly picked up around them, almost threatening to blow them away. _"Allow me!"_ Masa's voice came with the wind. _"We'll ride the wind to the base of the mountain__!"_

_"Good luck to you,"_ Mune's voice came right after it.

None of them had any time to say thanks before the wind became so strong that it picked them all up, carrying them through the hole in the cavern's roof.

* * *

Riding the wind, the party landed quite safely at the base of the Denadoro Mountains. Alexander scowled, realizing what they had to do now. "I almost forgot..." he muttered. "Now we have to go visit that brat, Tata. He still has that Hero Medal thing."

And so they went back down to Porre Village, heading directly to Tata's house. Alex walked in and immediately found the short, dark-haired boy from before, standing just under the stairs to the second floor. "I..." he stuttered, recognizing the party from before. "I'm sorry, everyone. Some frog guy dropped this in a cafe. I thought I'd sell it, but then everybody started calling me 'Hero.' I couldn't bear to get rid of it!"

Tata's father gasped and ran into the hallway where the others were, looking furious at what he was hearing.

"I just can't fake it any longer," Tata continued. "I'm no Hero... I'm so ashamed!" He held out the Hero Medal. "Here. Please take this!"

Alexander grinned and immediately nabbed the medal, pocketing it quickly.

"_Scoundrel_!" Tata's father roared. "I knew this was all a sham!" Rolling his eyes, he muttered, "How could I have fallen for that? For my dear departed wife's sake, I vow to keep my feet on the ground!"

"Listen to **you**!" Tata quickly retorted, his shame disappearing. "Who was going around telling everyone you raised a Hero, huh?!"

Lucca smirked. "He does have a point."

Alexander shook his head. "We got what we need. Let's get the heck out of here before we actually become involved in this."

* * *

_Later, in the Cursed Woods..._

"Frog! We're back!" Edward shouted as they climbed down the ladder to Frog's hidden room. Alex, upon reaching the ground floor, pulled out the Hero Medal.

Frog glanced back at them, still looking as sulky as before. "Thee hath returned?" He suddenly recognized what Alex was holding. "Th-the Hero Medal!" He blinked a couple of times in disbelief, but then seemed to get a hold of himself. "Aye..." Frog muttered. "Then thou hast seen the lad. Yet there's nary a thing I can do against Magus."

"Huh? Why not!?" Alphonse asked incredulously.

Frog turned away. "The legendary Masamune is required to fight Magus. And I've no right to wield it. Please leave now..." He walked away, revealing one of his pots behind him.

Lucca immediately walked over to the pot and, checking to make sure Frog wasn't looking, opened it. She pulled out a sword hilt, the blade of which had been broken off. Crono pulled out the broken blade of the Masamune.

Edward nodded. "A broken sword..." He glanced at the blade, and lined up the hilt with it. The edges didn't meet exactly, probably because of corrosion, but they seemed to be of the same sword. "It's part of the Masamune."

"Still," Alex interjected, glancing at Frog, who was on the other side of the room with his back to them, "a broken sword, even if it is the Masamune, isn't much help to anyone."

Lucca took the hilt back, running her fingers along the stub of the blade. "It's engraved with archaic letters. I think I can read it. Um... mm..." She suddenly gasped. "M... E... L... C... H... I... O... R!"

"Melchior?" Marle asked. "That guy in Medina Village? What does this mean?"

Alexander took both parts of the Masamune and put them away. "It means he apparently had something to do with its design. Let's go back to the present and talk to him about it!" He walked over to the ladder leading out, but gave Frog one last glance before leaving. "We'll be back, Frog!" he suddenly assured him. "Count on it!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	13. Prehistoric Dreams

Chapter 13  
Prehistoric Dreams

With their next plan being to return to the present, the party started their trek back up to Truce Canyon, where the Gate still waited. However, as they passed the villa in the middle of the desert between Porre and Dorino Village, Edward began to fall behind.

"Huh?" Lucca mumbled as she looked back to see the staggering form of the short alchemist. Grinning, she remarked, "Aw, don't tell me that you're tired already?"

As the others gathered around, Edward looked up at her and grumbled, "Dammit, we've been walking around for ages! I need a breather. Isn't there a café or... even an **inn** nearby?"

This struck Alexander with an idea. "There's an inn in Dorino Village, which is closer," he responded. "You guys go check out the inn. I just remembered something that I need to go check out."

Crono raised an eyebrow at the boy. Alex took note of this, but didn't react physically in return. Like some of the others in the past, the scarlet-haired protagonist was probably beginning to recognize a pattern of when the Interference made an action based on game knowledge.

_**Sure, because saying that you 'just remembered something' **_**isn't****_ going to start cluing them in sooner or later,_** Joumae added sarcastically, having heard that particular train of thought. Alex just scowled and grumbled something under his breath.

When the party entered Dorino Village, Edward happily led the way to the inn on the east side of the town square, while Alexander went to the elder's house on the south side. As soon as he opened the wooden door, he heard voices.

"I want you to find the mythical 'Rainbow Shell,'" an old man, probably the village headman, ordered a stranger around the corner. Alex walked down the main entrance hall and walked into the living room, where the headman and another person were conversing.

The stranger was a rugged-looking man with dark brown hair tied by tan-colored headband. He had a thick mustache, and wore a scarf that matched his headband. The man wore a scarlet vest with a white undershirt, tan-colored gloves and pants, and large, dark red boots.

The headman held out some gold pieces to the stranger. "Here's some front money. We're counting on you, Toma!"

The stranger, now identified as Toma, took the money and grinned. "Hey, no problem! 'Cause, like, I'm the mythical explorer. Good match, eh chief?"

"Hmm..." the headman mumbled, nodding slowly. "I'll be waiting for good news."

Toma nodded back. "With that settled, I'll grab a bite before I go." He walked out of the room and down the entrance hall, walking past Alexander.

Alex, on the other hand, had a rather bemused expression on his face. _Grab a bite? _he thought. _This worked out better than I expected._

* * *

_Meanwhile, at Dorino Inn..._

"Magus is trying to bring forth an intense evil..." one man at the counter pointed out. "If he succeeds, there will be nowhere to run. We'll all perish!" As the barkeeper brought him a refilled drink, he promptly grinned and held it up. "That's why I'm living it up right now!"

Edward rolled his eyes as the man downed his glass. "Whatever floats your boat, buddy..." he muttered with a sigh. This hadn't been his idea of rest and relaxation. Even though this was (ironically enough) called the R&R Hotel, it appeared that the concept in 600 AD Guardia didn't quite match what it meant in present-day Amestris.

The door to the inn opened, and a rugged-looking man came in. He sat down in the seat between Edward and the lively man. The alchemist raised an eyebrow. This guy was certainly more dressed for travel than the natives were. Was this guy some kind of adventurer?

The man took his drink and looked back at Edward. He suddenly smirked. "Hmph, why is a little shor–"

"Hold it!" the barkeeper shouted, cutting him off. "I've already lost two of my customers who said something like that to this guy!" he explained, quickly gesturing to a couple of men who were lying unconscious behind the counter.

Indeed, there was a vein pulsing in Edward's temple already. He might have gone ahead and socked the stranger for getting so close to calling Edward _that_. However, the alchemist had to admit that at least some of them had the presence of mind to prevent it. So he simply fumed internally.

The man laughed out loud. "Bwahaha! Impressive!" Giving Edward an honest smile, Toma said, "Hey, how have you been? You pay my tab and I'll let you in on some stuff. How about it?"

Edward pulled out the wallet that Alex had lent him and pulled out the required amount of gold pieces. "Sure." He was bored anyway, and this was certainly better than hearing some drunkard's excuse for partying hard.

"Hey, thanks!" Toma responded, taking the gold pieces. He then shouted to the barkeeper, "Hey, one more, please!" As a drink was placed in front of him, he turned to Edward and said in a lower voice, "Some creepy, dangerous frogs have taken over the southern woods."

Edward was rather shocked, but tried not to show it. _That's it?!_ He was just pointing out that Frog was there?! Or was he maybe talking about something else? Like some kind of special monster there? Nonetheless, Edward felt rather ripped off. It was a very good thing that Alexander had a lot of munny to spare after all of his adventures so far.

Speaking of which, Alex came through the door to the inn and walked over to Edward. Looking around, the Interference asked, "Where are the others?"

Edward gestured to the door to the bedrooms. "They're in the back, getting some rest. I was more bored and thirsty than anything else, it turned out."

Alex nodded. "Well, let's get them up. It's time we visited Melchior." He started to walk toward the back, but then stopped and said, "You didn't spend too much of my munny, did you?"

The blond alchemist gave a quick glance at Toma, then shook his head at Alex. "No, not really."

* * *

The party reached Truce Canyon and used the Gate there to return to the End of Time. They then used the portal to Medina Village and (after apologizing for intruding on the Imps' home again) made the journey over to Melchior's house.

The old man chuckled as the party came through the door. "You're back again? Come to see my collection?"

Without saying a word, Lucca revealed the two broken halves of the Masamune. Melchior's countenance immediately changed for the worse. "Th-This sword..." he stuttered, "...is the Masamune! How did you get it?!"

Lucca shook her head. "Why would your name be engraved on the sword?" she asked, ignoring Melchior's own question.

The old man was silent for a while, and turned his back on them for a few moments. "It's a... long story." He turned back toward them. "You do want to hear this story, right?" he asked slowly.

Alphonse nodded vigorously. "Of course! Tell us about the Masamune!" He paused thoughtfully for a moment, and then added, "More importantly, is it possible to reforge it?"

"Hmmmm..." Melchior's mumbled, resting on his cane and staring at his shoes. "It might be possible if we could get our hands on some Dreamstone, which the sword is made of."

Marle blinked, looking confused. "Dreamstone? Where could we get that?"

Melchior shook his head. "You can't find it anymore. It was a red stone that was once used as money. Unfortunately, it hasn't been available for a very long time." He let out a long sigh. "I doubt that you'll ever find the red stone, but if you bring me some, I will fix the Masamune. Keep the sword with you until then."

Lucca placed the pieces of the Masamune back into the inventory bag (which seemed to be another infinite space within a finite package, a phenomenon that Alex was beginning to call Etherspace for the heck of it).

As the party walked out of the hut, Edward muttered, "Well, that was a big lot of nothing. Where **are** we going to find this Dreamstone stuff?"

"Well," Lucca said, "he did say that it was once available a while back. And if this is a game, there has to be a way of getting it if we're going to repair the Masamune."

Marle nodded. "Yeah! We can use the Gates to go back to the time where we can get some of it." She glanced at Alexander. "You know, right? How far back in time do we need to go?"

Alex tried to keep a straight face. "_Sixty-five million years_... or so."

"What the...!?" Edward immediately responded as the whole party was taken aback. "How the hell are we supposed to go back that freakin' far!?"

Alexander lost his straight face, and grinned. "Hey, there's still some more Gates out there. Let's get back to the End of Time, and I'll show you."

* * *

The party landed back on the rightmost pillar of light on the first platform of the End of Time. Alex walked back onto the main platform and approached Robo. The robot nodded slightly toward him and said, "May I be of assistance?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. You're going to switch with Marle. I think it's time for her turn to be out for a while."

Marle rolled her eyes and groaned. "What? Now?!" Furrowing her brow and glaring at Alex, she walked over to a spot on the platform under the lamp and sat down with her legs crossed.

Robo paused for a moment, then focused back on the party. "Hmm... Information on your adventure without me has been added to my memory banks and saved. I'm ready, Alexander."

"Good," Alex replied. "Now, let's get going to the Prehistoric era." He led the party back onto the Gate platform, and gestured toward the pillar of light on the far left, just above the one that led to Truce Canyon. When they stepped on it, the phrase that entered their minds was: _Mystic Mountain, 65,000,000 BC._

"This is our ride!" Alex said with a grin. Lucca raised the Gate Key to the air, and soon they were traveling through time once again.

* * *

The first sound uttered from any of the party upon leaving the Gate was something like this: "**AUUUUUGGH!!!**" After all, what else is there to say when you're taking a _hundred-foot drop_ from just below the top of a cliff!? Strangely enough, that is where the Gate had been placed.

Fortunately, the six fighters recovered just in time to land on their feet at the bottom. The next sight they were greeted with was a bunch of short, nasty-looking creatures running around in the clearing they had landed in. Lucca cringed. "They're all green and scaly!"

Alex had to agree with that description. The creatures also wore golden hides across their torsos, and their hands and feet were a bright pink. Edward didn't look like he could make heads or tails of it. "Some kinda reptile?" he guessed at random. "Certainly doesn't look natural."

"Half human, half dinosaur..." Robo analyzed calmly. "An unlikely life form."

Alexander nodded slowly. "Reptites..." Suddenly, one of the creatures bumped into Alexander. He didn't suffer much of a blow, but this contact made the party's presence known to the rest of the creatures. All five of the Reptites got into a claw formation, which was basically a V-shaped line with the depression facing the party so that they would have very little room for escape.

Not that there was any room. They were backed up against the cliff wall. There was no choice but to fight. Crono summoned up magical energy, and a bolt of lightning struck one of the Reptites. The monster suddenly sparked and froze up under the energy, and fell to the ground in a scorching heap.

Alex grinned and summoned the Lightning Guard. "Ah, that's right! I remember! The dinosaurs in this era are incredibly sensitive to the Lightning element!" He began to summon up his own elemental energy, and shouted, "_Lightning_!" A similar bolt of lightning crashed down on another Reptite, which had the same reaction as the first.

"_Fire_ in the hole!" Edward suddenly yelled. Alex and the others quickly ducked out of the way again. Edward had transmuted a glass bottle out of the rock wall, and had placed a Fire spell in it. As he lobbed it, the glass began to heat up, almost to the point where it would shatter.

He had, in essence, created a makeshift molotov cocktail.

The bottle exploded, sending shards of glass careening in all directions. The unsuspecting Reptites got the full force of the attack, though. They were cut to ribbons by the fragmented glass, and they soon faded away.

As the last Reptite faded away, eight more Reptites came out of nowhere and took crude fighting positions. Lucca fumbled at her gun nervously. "We're outnumbered!" she exclaimed.

And just as the Reptites began to move, a blond woman wearing a gray costume (made of some kind of wildcat skin, including the tail) bounded toward the group of scaly creatures and took out three of them with her fists and feet. Her fighting style was quick, strong, and somewhat resembled a cat's.

Alphonse lowered his guard for a moment. "Who **is** that woman?" he asked incredulously.

"Her fighting capabilities far exceed those of humans!" Robo exclaimed, his robotic voice sounding rather impressed. The strange woman took out another Reptite and carried it off, leaving the clearing. The rest of the creatures, which had been just as distracted by this display as the party, suddenly regained the focus of their attention. Robo flinched. "Now they're after us!"

The Reptites took their places, and Robo seemed to get an idea. "Everyone, get down!" he shouted as he stepped forward. The armor plating along his midsection opened up, and he started firing lasers from the cannons that now protruded from his metal body. The robot spun around, scorching the Reptites with the lasers.

As the Laser Spin finished, Alex got back up and switched his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal. "I'll finish these off!" He jumped forward and slammed the face of the Lockshield on the head of one Reptite, defeating it. He stepped up to another one and gave it two slashes across its face, sending it flying back where Lucca shot it. The two other Reptites closed in on him from both sides, but Alex started spinning around rapidly, bashing both reptilian enemies with multiple strikes before slamming them backward.

Alex came to a stop, and took a deep breath. It was hard to believe that he had been a simple gamer little more than two weeks ago. And now he was pulling off combo moves like _that_... with a **shield**.

The strange woman from before jumped off a hill and flipped forward into the clearing, landing on all fours and turning to face the party. Edward was a little perturbed by this. "What the...!?"

Robo shook his head. "Do not upset her. She's rather agitated right now."

"We're not looking for a fight!" Lucca shouted as the stranger looked ready to pounce.

And pounce she did. She tackled Crono, pushing him against the cliff wall and holding him up. "_Crono!_" the others all cried out. The woman kept Crono in that position for a few seconds, as if inspecting him.

Then, after a few tense moments, she let him down and stepped aside, smiling. "You strong. What name?" she asked. Her voice was sweet, but her words just barely passed her as intelligent in the first impression.

"...C-Crono," the red-haired protagonist gasped, rather taken aback by such a sudden introduction.

"Crono, huh?" the woman repeated. "Good name." Seeing the others' inquisitive looks, she mumbled, "Me? Me... Me Ayla." The woman smiled at Crono again. "Ayla like strong people. So Ayla like Crono!"

Edward sighed and placed a hand on his head. "I think she likes you, Crono..."

Ayla shook her head, and stepped back into the center of the clearing to face all of them. "You strong too. Ayla respect strong people. Men and women."

Lucca averted her eyes. "Where have they been keeping her!?" she muttered under her breath. Ayla's dress code was... unflattering to say the least.

Suddenly, the woman walked over to Alphonse and Robo, and started walking around them curiously. Even Robo was a bit nervous. "Y-Yes?" he asked hesitantly.

Ayla stopped and faced both of them. Nodding to herself, she said, "You two different, but strong too."

"It's because I'm a robot," Robo explained.

"I'm not a robot," Alphonse quickly added, "but I'm a guy's soul in a suit of armor."

"'Rawboot?'" Ayla repeated with some difficulty, holding her head in frustration. "What that? Ayla don't know."

Robo struck a metal hand against his body, letting it make a loud banging sound. "It's a machine that looks like a man."

Ayla shook her head furiously. "What you say!?" she shouted loudly, sounding even more frustrated. "No rubbish for Ayla, head go boom!" She sighed and walked back over to Crono. "Crono, where from?"

Robo almost sighed sadly. "It is beyond her grasp."

"Uh..." Edward mumbled, trying to come up with an answer. "We're from... _way_ after the day after tomorrow."

Ayla simply laughed at the attempt. "Haha, you funny, shorty. Ayla like funny people."

"**Who're you callin' a shorty!?**" Edward immediately retorted, though this only made Ayla laugh even more. By now, however, the rest of the party was used to these outbursts.

Lucca shook her head. "It's no use..."

"Come to village!" Ayla suddenly declared. "We talk and eat. Dance! Eat! Fun!!"

_**Augh, I can feel this woman's vocabulary killing your brain cells, Alexander,**_ Joumae groaned. **_And I'm not the empathetic one of us._**

Alexander nodded. The sooner they got things moving on, the better. "We'd love to go," he replied apologetically, "but we've got to look for the Dreamstone now."

"Stone?" Ayla repeated. She smiled broadly at him. "Plenty stones! Here, there, at village. You take plenty." Looking at all of them, she said, "Crono come, Ioka village this way." And, with that, she started running off toward the shallow stream, which was actually part of a path out of the mountains as Alex remembered it.

* * *

Ayla led them out of the mountains and to the northwest, where there was a small village of huts situated around the river flowing through the continent, with a meeting grounds to the north. The prehistoric sun was beginning to set in the distance. The party met up with Ayla again in what was obviously the chief's hut, the fact denoted by the abundance of animal skins on the floor of the hut.

"Good, Crono come," Ayla remarked as the party entered the hut. "Night soon and ready for party. Come Crono!"

She led them to the meeting grounds, where a big event had already been set up. By the time the entire party was seated, the sun had just fallen. Ayla was seated in a makeshift chair coated with more animal furs, sitting in front of a large tree leaf that served as a table for a banquet. A banquet table that extended far to the sides, so that the party members that were seated on either side of her still had prehistoric food in front of them.

"Listen all!" Ayla shouted out to the cavemen and women that had gathered in the square. "New friends here!" She gestured to Crono. "Strong man. Crono!" She then gestured to everyone else in turn. "Friends of Crono. Lucca, Robo, Edward, Alphonse, Alex!"

Alphonse and Alex winced as their names were called. Ayla managed to get the pronunciation right for Alphonse's name... barely. Actually, it was likely she was saying it as, "Alfonz."

And Alexander had deliberately not given Ayla the last two syllables of his name. During the entire conversation back at the Mystic Mountains, her vocabulary seemed to have been mostly limited to words of only two syllables. To his shame (and Joumae's joking), he had honestly thought that four syllables would've been too much.

But enough of that digression. Back to the prehistoric party. The crowd roared, "Unngaaa!" and cheered as the names were called.

"Now, we dance!" Ayla shouted for the whole crowd to hear, thrusting a fist into the air.

The natives began some kind of cryptic dance around the fire. Strangely enough, there were words along with it. They were lyrics, as Alex cringed to find out about.

_Oohga, bunga ♪  
Munga, meeple ♪  
Dance with wind people ♫_

_Oohga, bunga ♪  
Munga, meeple ♪  
Dance with mountain people ♫_

_Oohga, bunga ♪  
Munga, might ♪  
Sing and dance all night ♫_

Alex stood up from his leaf seat and started to look around at the rest of the party. Edward and Lucca were scarfing some of the food down, but they seemed to trying to resist it at the same time. "They're twisting my arm!" Lucca exclaimed.

"This is no time to celebrate!" Alphonse chided them, but seemed to be fighting the urge to get up and start moving as well.

Edward burped loudly as he went for a strange drink out of a vat in the back.

Robo inspected some of the food. "What an unpleasant substance. And so many bugs in it!"

Crono came around to sit with Lucca. As he approached, Lucca mumbled, "Yumm. Crono, you've got to try some poi!"

The protagonist looked down at the semi-solid food substance. Grinning, he replied, "Spoon it up!" Lucca quickly obliged, and placed a huge bowl of the stuff in Crono's lap.

"Are you a man or a mouse!?" Lucca teased. "Do it in one gulp!" And, to Alex's eternal disgust, Crono did. He emptied the entire bowl of poi in one shot. "Gyahaha!" Lucca cackled.

Edward burped again. "'Scuse me."

Crono stood up and walked back to his seat. But he was intercepted by Ayla, who was holding up a bowl of some more food. "Crono you try!? Special Jurassic pork soup! Good stuff!!" Crono took the bowl, but Ayla's face suddenly became serious. "Ayla fight Reptites," she muttered in a low tone. "Their leader Azala. Very smart."

The cavewoman gestured at the dancing tribe. "All in Ioka village fight. No fight, go to Laruba village. Don't know where village is. Always hide." She scowled. "Azala want to destroy Ioka **and** Laruba. But Ayla no lose. Only when Ayla dead, give up!"

She shook her head. "Enough." She laughed, and was her merry self again. "Meet Crono today. Good day! Eat, party, sing, dance!"

On the side of the party, Alexander noticed one of the cavemen walking toward him. He also had blond hair, and wore clothing similar in color and texture to Ayla's. He was staring at Crono and Ayla intently. Alex recognized this man as Kino.

Kino glanced at Alexander. "You outsiders... But Ayla give party. Why?" Shaking his head, he walked away. Alex suddenly remembered how complicated this was going to get.

"Crono," Ayla suddenly said, drawing Alex's attention back to the banquet section, "you look for red rock?" Crono nodded, and Ayla conjured up a large red gleaming stone from behind her seat. "Rare, red rock sign of power. Ayla's strongest in Ioka village. So Ayla's rock!" She smirked at Crono. "You want, you challenge Ayla! You win, then Ayla give to you. Challenge Ayla?"

Crono quickly nodded. "Yes."

"Bring plenty soup!" Ayla quickly shouted out. She grinned at Crono. "Party now, so eat! Crono and Ayla have soup race!"

Alexander rolled his eyes. This was going to be one wild night, but he didn't want any part of it from here on out. He knew what was about to happen next, and he wanted a little complication as he could manage. After all, the big picture was still at hand, and that was the fact that Elaeus was still waiting for them with Lavos. The sooner they got to him, the better.

Alex started walking over to Lucca, and saw the Gate Key sticking halfway out of her pocket. She looked completely unaware of this...

Meanwhile, Crono and Ayla had been seated down near the fire, with large bowls of poi in their laps. "We start now," Ayla ordered. "First who fills lose!"

The race began. Crono and Ayla quickly downed their bowls of poi, and placed them down so that the cavemen beside them would refill it. Then they started the process anew. They both seemed to be going at the same pace at first, but then at the fourth bowl Crono began to finish first.

Ayla suddenly burped loudly as she finished her seventh bowl, just as Crono was halfway through his eighth. "Enough, Crono," she gasped, letting out another small burp. "You win, I give you rock!" She thrust her fist into the air. "Crono eat plenty. Eat last bowl for health!"

She chuckled to herself as she seemed to feel a little lightheaded. "Okay, eat. Maybe eat too much!" Crono and Ayla started to down the last bowl of poi.

Alex slipped away from the party, and noticed a presence following him. With any luck, this was the same person he was hoping for, and the others would soon fall asleep from exhaustion. No one else would have to know what he was up to for another few hours...

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	14. The Rarest of Swords

Chapter 14  
The Rarest of Swords

_The next morning..._

Crono slowly got up off the ground, yawning. After doing a quick stretch to wake his body up, he walked over to Robo and Alphonse, who were sitting on the ground on the east side of the square.

The robot soon activated and stood up, glancing at Crono. "G...good morning," he stuttered. Shaking his head at the remains of the food, he said, "That soup seems to affect humans."

The light behind the eyes of the helmet of Alphonse's armor appeared, and the boy stood up. "Man, that was wild. I only hope Edward didn't bloat himself up too much."

Crono nodded at them and walked over to Lucca and Edward lying down on the other side of the square. Lucca groaned and stood up. "Phew..." She looked a little confused, so Crono gave her a short remark involving what she did last night. "What!? Liar! I was a perfect lady last night!" she screamed, outraged. But then she said, "But why does my stomach hurt so...?"

Edward groaned a little, and propped himself up on his elbows. His eyes suddenly widened. "Hey! Who made these footprints!?" There were strange footprints all around the meeting place, going all over the place. None of the villagers were in sight.

"Hey, where's Alex?" Alphonse asked suddenly. He was also nowhere to be found.

Lucca suddenly gasped. "It's gone!" she screamed. "The Gate Key's been taken!" Lucca looked around at the footprints thoughtfully. "These prints were left by the thief! I wouldn't be surprised if Alex went after him without waking us up..." She looked back at the rest of them. "Without either of them, we're stuck here forever!"

"Not only that," Edward added as he stood up, "but if someone else has the Gate Key, what if he stumbles into a Gate without us?"

"This isn't funny!" Lucca muttered. "Let's go see Ayla!"

* * *

Ayla snored loudly, sound asleep as she laid on one of the fur rugs in the chief's hut. Crono rolled his eyes, but he walked over to her and pushed her gently. To their surprise, she jumped up from her prone state and looked at all of them.

"Huh... Crono, you up already?" she asked. She yawned loudly and suddenly held her head in pain. "Too much soup! Sleep like stone." Ayla let out a quiet burp.

"Sorry to wake you," Alphonse cut in, "but we've been robbed!"

"Wh-what!?" Ayla mumbled, starting to become alert. "Must be Reptites!" She thought about the matter for a little while, and then declared, "Crono come with Ayla! We settle with Reptites! Who else come?"

"We'll all come!" Edward shouted. "This involves all of us!"

"Ugh, not me..." Lucca suddenly muttered. She was clutching her stomach. "That food must've affected me worse than I thought. I'll stay here. You guys go on ahead."

Edward thought it was a little strange. "Okay... so it'll be me and Al, Crono, and Robo coming with you, Ayla."

Ayla nodded. "Someone from village see," she presumed. "We go ask. Crono come!" She bounded out of the hut, letting the others follow. She led them to a hut on the other side of the river, almost directly south of the chief's hut.

A young girl there nodded at Ayla's questioning. "Me saw Reptites," the little girl responded. "Came from meeting site. Went to Forest Maze."

* * *

The party went to the southern forest. The footprints started again at the forest's entrance. However, on the first turn, they found one of the cavemen standing there with his back to them.

Ayla immediately recognized the man, and guessed his intentions. "Kino! What you do!?" she demanded. When Kino merely glanced at her and sighed, she growled, "Say **now**!"

"Ayla..." Kino began, partially intimidated. He sighed again, and said, "Kino try take Crono stuff."

"Why take!?" Ayla demanded.

Kino's gaze shifted to his feet. "Kino like Ayla best. Ayla like Crono, but Kino not like..." His explanation was cut off when Ayla gave him a swift whack on the head. He only staggered a little bit, but he was fairly surprised.

Robo shook his head. "Miss Ayla, please do not promote violence."

Ayla glared at Kino. "Kino! You know why I punish?"

Kino lowered his gaze again. "Ayla no like Kino..."

"No!" Ayla retorted, shaking her head firmly. "Ayla like Kino **best**! No more do bad stuff, okay!? That wrong!" Her face softened only slightly.

"Ayla..." Kino mumbled. "Sorry Ayla! Sorry Crono!"

"Give back stuff to Crono!" Ayla ordered.

"...No have..." Kino replied. "I say only **try** take Crono stuff. Alex take before me." Nodding at the others' surprised reactions, he continued, "He say he knew I try to take Crono stuff. We fight. Then Reptities show up. Reptites take stuff and run. Alex run also."

"Upon which point," a voice called out from the forest, "that I kick some serious tail." Alexander stepped out of the nearby brush, holding the Gate Key firmly in his hand and grinning. Taking in the reactions of the rest of the party, he said, "Seriously though, you should have seen how I handled going through the Reptite Lair..."

* * *

_Several hours previously..._

Alexander ran up the stairs to the main chamber of the Reptite Lair, breathing pretty heavily. It had been a wonder that he'd made it this far. Of course, all of the Reptites were weak to Lightning magic. And with his Thundaga spell from Kingdom Hearts II along with his Lightning magic, he could pull a lot of lightning out of the proverbial hat.

"What's this!?" a strange voice came from the other end of the cave. "Could the apes have made something **this** advanced?"

Alex climbed another short set of stairs and got onto the main platform. He saw a large green creature in a pink cape with striking dark blue armor on its shoulders and across its abdomen. Alex grinned, and said, "Surprise. It's me again."

The creature turned around, showing its ugly, reptilian face to Alexander. It held the Gate Key in its hand. "Ah, the ape has arrived! Hmm. You're nothing like Ayla..."

"Of course not," Alex replied, somewhat relieved to be talking with someone who used proper grammar. He summoned the Lightning Guard and held it menacingly. "But that key belongs to me, and your goons stole it a while ago, Azala."

"Hmph," Azala grunted. "Tell me what this is, at once!"

"Or what?" Alex teased. He definitely wasn't going to tell Azala about the Gate Key. This guy was just too intelligent to be trusted with the knowledge of time travel.

Azala stepped back a little bit. "I guess you need some... motivation. He looked back to the rear of the cave, where a large cave doorway was. "Come, Nizbel!" There were some rumbling sounds as something started to step out of the doorway.

Alex suddenly paled as a large upright dinosaur creature came out of the niche. It had a tan-grayish skin, with scarlet-colored plates on its chest. There was a long tail sticking out behind it, and there were two horns in its forehead along with one on its nose. It stood on its hind legs like a humanoid, and it had long, muscle-bound arms that it looked ready to use. As it charged forward to meet Alexander, Azala ran past the boy and away from the impending battle.

Alexander dashed past Nizbel and drove the face of the Lockshield into its side. The shield all but glanced off of the hide. The dinosaur quickly knocked Alex away with a quick sweep of his arm, sending Alex onto his feet on the other side of the room.

Alex was fairly frustrated. He had somewhat forgotten the strategy for this boss; it had been so long. _**Oh, just use the same strategy you've used so far,**_ Joumae grumbled. **_Zap 'im!_**

The boy sighed and summoned up his magical energy. "_Lightning_!" A bolt of lightning came down and crashed into Nizbel. The muscles in Nizbel's body seemed to suddenly flex and relax at the same time, ending up less buffed than he'd been before.

Alex gasped. "Oh, right!" He then grinned, and charged in for another strike. He switched to the Heartless Seal this time. However, Nizbel recovered in time and swiped at Alex. A reaction command came to his mind, and Alex felt his body respond.

He jumped on top of Nizbel's sweeping arm, and quickly leaped off of that. He came up to the dinosaur's face, but Alexander grabbed onto Nizbel's nose horn and pulled himself up and forward. Using the propulsion as momentum, he spun around and slammed his Lockshield into Nizbel's face, sending the mighty creature falling to the ground.

_**Ah, I see... Physical defense drops when he's shocked, eh?**_ the voice in Alex's head mused.

With a snarling sound, Nizbel jumped back to his feet, and jumped one more time to send a shockwave throughout the entire room. Alex fell over and bumped his head because of the vibrations. Furthermore, while Alex was off balance, Nizbel gathered all of the electrical energy in his body and discharged it into the air, shocking Alexander in turn as the wave of charged energy passed over him.

_**Ooh, this is pretty interesting,**_ Joumae chuckled, gleeful at Alex's expense. **_He can discharge the shock and recover his defense power, eh?_**

"Gimme a break!" Alex growled as he stood up straight. "Geez, you're getting more annoying and vocal with every adventure, Joumae."

_**Why, thank you.**_

Alex grunted and raised his Lockshield into the air. "_Thundaga_!" A slightly smaller bolt of lightning struck Nizbel, shocking him once more. Alexander switched the Lockshield back to the Lightning Guard, and charged in. When he got close enough, he jumped up and shouted, "_Spincut_!" He started spinning forward at a high speed, blurring so much that he soon looked like a dark red sphere with a blade. He slashed straight through Nizbel at that speed, landing firmly on the ground past the monster on both feet.

The Interference kept his back to Nizbel as a bright flash snapped through the room, and as the monster was overtaken by a bright light before he disappeared. Alex finally turned around and saw Azala, who looked almost as shocked as Nizbel had been. "Th...the ape beat Nizbel!"

"Hmph," Alexander grunted, dismissing the Lockshield. He held out his hand. "Now, why don't you hand over that key quietly, while I'm still satisfied with that victory?" he asked, his voice edged like steel.

Azala took a step backward. "But remember," he said shakily, but with returning force, "**we** Reptites will rule the world!" He threw the Gate Key onto the ground in front of Alexander. "Your days our numbered!" he shouted before running out of the chamber.

Alex sighed and walked over to the Gate Key, picking it up. He inspected it a little bit, but it didn't look damaged. He grinned at the retreating Azala. "Don't worry, Azala! I'll fight anytime, and I don't plan on losing!" He looked toward the back of the cave, where he saw some light coming from the niche where Nizbel had come out.

* * *

_Later (after Alex's flashback), in the chief's hut..._

"So that's it?" Lucca asked. "I got a stomachache earlier because I would've made four Chrono Trigger party members?"

Alex sighed and nodded. "That's what it sounds like."

Meanwhile, Crono was explaining the situation to Ayla, who wasn't very pleased. "You leave, Crono? No fun for Ayla!" she exclaimed, pouting.

Lucca overheard this and decided to give her farewell. "Thanks, Ayla. I learned a lot from you."

Kino nodded at the party. "Sorry, Crono. I try be strong now. Just like Crono."

"Augh!" Edward exclaimed, drawing unnecessary attention. "How come everyone's obsessing about Crono!? Aren't _we_ strong as well!? Why don't I hear anyone talking about _the rest of us_ being strong?! Gaaah!"

Ayla waved them goodbye. "Come again, Crono! Party! Eat! Dance! Fight! Fun!" While the others dragged the ranting, squirming Edward out of the hut, she called out, "Robo, Lucca, Ed, Al, and Alex too!"

* * *

The party entered the Gate in the Mystic Mountains about as strangely as they had exited it. Since the darned thing was on the middle of a cliff wall, they simply walked up the hill to the cliff and... jumped into it.

It was, as Alex put it, "By far the strangest exit I've ever seen. And you see quite a few things over three adventures, you know."

Anyway, they then took the Gate to Medina Village. The Imps who owned the closet they came out of were surprised, but they were beginning to get used to their comings and goings. In fact, one of them remarked that they had tried moving the closet, but the Gate had stayed put.

Digression aside, it was a short walk to Melchior's place. As the party opened the door to the house, Crono pulled out the large red Dreamstone they had earned from Ayla the previous night.

Melchior immediately saw it. "You found some Dreamstone!? Then I'll repair the Masamune!" But before he did anything, he asked, "**How** on earth did you get the Masamune... and the Dreamstone? No, don't tell me. I don't think my heart could take it. It'll take a little while to fix this..."

As he started walking down the stairs to the basement, Lucca shouted, "I'll lend a hand!!"

Alex sighed and turned to the others. "Well, it'll be a while 'till it's done, so why don't we get some rest at the inn in Medina or something?"

"**Excuse** me? Medina?" Edward growled. "In case you've forgotten, that's a Mystic village. They'd sooner kill us than give us services!"

Alexander grinned, and handed Edward his wallet. "Fine then. You guys go kick their butts first, then they'll give you a room. I'm gonna stay instead as well and help out, or at least watch."

The others left grudgingly, and Alex ran down to the basement. Melchior placed the Dreamstone and the two parts of the Masamune on the table. "Alright, then!" he shouted, and started walking over to the bookcase in the back.

Lucca shook her head. "How are you going to fix it?" she asked. Upon seeing Alex, she smiled and said, "Hey. Came to watch?"

"Don't interrupt me while I'm conducting research!" Melchior chided them as he looked through an old tome he'd picked out from the shelf.

Under lowered tones, Alex replied, "Yeah, I'm here to watch. Maybe help out, but I doubt it at this point..."

Melchior came back to the table. "To repair the Masamune," he declared, "we must process the Dreamstone, and activate the sword. You work on the Dreamstone, and I'll work on the sword." He took the parts of the Masamune and placed them on another table in the back. "At any rate, leave this to me!"

Lucca grinned. "Okay! Leave it to Lucca and Alexander the Great!"

Alex groaned at the pun. Not that Lucca knew about the pun, but it was a pun nonetheless. **_What? It's still a compliment. Geez, you're no good with girls. As evidenced by your sis–_**

"Gonna be mighty busy!" Lucca remarked, thankfully cutting Joumae off. She went over to the bookshelf and opened up a cabinet beneath it, grabbing a couple of drinks. She placed the drinks on the table and got to work on the Dreamstone. "Alright, so what we need to do is process this for forging into the sword. Fortunately, that requires only one thing. _Fire_!"

Caught off guard, Alex flinched back as Lucca let out a fireball that enveloped the Dreamstone. But it seemed to work. When the fire was extinguished, the Dreamstone was no longer a dull red rock but a shining crimson ruby. "Neat!" Alex exclaimed.

"I'm done with the sword," Melchior declared. "Bring the Dreamstone!"

Lucca downed her drink, and Alex took a sip of his. "We also just finished!" Lucca replied. She took the Dreamstone and placed it on Melchior's other desk, next to the Masamune.

"Alright, let's get started," Melchior said as Alex approached to watch. The old man took on a serious expression, and a familiar tingling sensation passed through the air. Lucca and Alex gasped. He was summoning some kind of magical energy! The two fighters nodded at each other and also summoned energy of their own, putting it into the sword and stone.

A screeching sound resonated from the sword, and it began to glow brightly, filling the room with white light.

* * *

Alex went out and fetched the rest of the party, though found Edward to be extremely pissed off. Like the alchemist had guessed (and Alex had known), they'd had to fight all of the Mystics in the inn first, before the innkeeper reluctantly agreed to give them a room. And the price had been _steep_. "I'd have been more relaxed walking into the Colonel's office," Edward spat as they walked back to Melchior's house.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Melchior apologized as the fighters entered the hut once more. He nodded at Lucca, who revealed the large, gleaming broadsword. It seemed to suck the light out of the room as it shone with its own internal brightness. "Take a good look. **This** is the Masamune!" he declared.

The lights behind Robo's eyes blinked a few times. "How strange. My sensors are picking up... _spiritual_ energy emanating from the Masamune."

The light returned to the rest of the room, and Melchior stated, "Well, I think that's everything."

Alphonse nodded. "It seems it's time to take the Masamune to Frog. He's the only one who can wield a broadsword."

As Lucca put the Masamune in the inventory bag, Melchior advised them, "This weapon represents considerable power... Your actions may either save or destroy life. Wield your sword with full knowledge of the consequences!"

_**Wow, a somewhat subtle message for once,**_ Joumae remarked. Still, Alex had to admit that what Melchior was saying was sound advice. Not only to the wielder of the Masamune, but to all wielders of considerable power. And sound advice had come from the most unlikely people in the past, including the likes of Sephiroth. "We'll keep that in mind."

* * *

_600 AD, the Cursed Woods..._

"Frog, we're back!" Alex shouted as he climbed down the ladder into Frog's underground home. He tried to keep the grin off his face, because he was awaiting the reaction at hand.

Frog nodded at them. "'Tis thee again." Lucca pulled out the Masamune from the inventory bag, and placed it on the ground in front of Frog. In addition, Alex took out the Hero's Medal and placed it next to the Masamune. Frog gasped and was taken aback, and it was the exact reaction Alex had been hoping for. "This sword... 'Tis the Masamune?"

He remained silent for a while, and took a few steps around that spot. Then, at length, he stated, "I must ponder this turn of events. Remain'eth here the night."

That night, Edward transmuted a few cots in that cave for the rest of the party to sleep on. They were mildly comfortable, but Alex found that he couldn't really fall asleep. There were too many thoughts in his head, and some of them of them weren't even his.

_**Alright, alright, I'll be quiet! Geez...**_

Alex sighed, but was cut short by a voice. "Ten years hath passed..." Alex quickly sat up in his cot. It was Frog! "Alas, can I do it? I've changed so much. Alas, poor Cyrus...!"

As Alexander got out of the cot, Frog glanced over at him, surprised. "Sir Alexander? Shouldn't thou be resting?"

Alex shrugged. "I've got too much on my mind." Thinking for a moment, he said, "Do you want to step outside for a bit of fresh air?" Without waiting, he started climbing the ladder out of the makeshift house. Confused, Frog followed him.

The night sky was absolutely beautiful. Without the light pollution of the city available in this world, the stars were in abundance. Alex marveled at it as Frog came out to meet him. Frog looked at him and asked, "...What is on thy mind, Alexander?"

Alex chuckled. "Ah, I was just thinking. I was a pretty normal kid before I got into all this. Here I am, four-hundred years in the past of a world I've only seen in a 16-bit video game, looking up at the night sky and talking to a knight who's been turned into a frog!" he finished with a laugh. "Not exactly something I expected to be doing on my fifteenth birthday."

"'Tis thy date of birth?" Frog asked, rather surprised.

Alexander sighed. "Well, in my world, it is. But time stops there while I'm here in this world, so that my family doesn't have to know. My family's still at home, but they'll never know about this unless I tell them, and they'll probably never believe me. Why would they?"

Frog gave him a rather bemused look, and Alex sat down to talk. "Well, I guess the thing is that I'm not in my area at all. That is... I'm not even supposed to be in this _world_! I'm fighting fights that work toward the greater good of everyone except me." He smirked. "And I think to myself, 'Why am I fighting this war? Couldn't I just go home and stay away from all this?'"

"Well?" Frog cut in. "Couldest thou?"

The Interference nodded. "I could. And, without Joumae's remarks in my head, I could probably live a pretty normal life if I really tried. I would never use the powers these worlds gave me, and I would stay out of danger."

"But, you know what? I choose to stay and fight," he remarked. Alex then gave Frog a serious look. "Because people are worth protecting. Even if I don't know them. Even if they're on another world. Even if they shouldn't exist."

This seemed to strike something within Frog. Admittedly, that's what Alex had been hoping for. But his own thoughts had been truly on his mind. He needed to spill his guts at some point.

"I had to destroy my sister," Alex suddenly said. This received a startled reaction from Frog, and Alex nodded at him. "One of Ansem's apprentices, Dilan, had persuaded her to turn to darkness and fight me. So I ended up destroying her." He sighed. "Now another of the apprentices, Elaeus, has come to this world. I don't want to see them hurt others like they hurt my family."

Frog stood up. "Shall we return to our quarters?" he suddenly asked. "I suspect thou hast laid off whatever thoughts that hath been on thy mind." He smiled a little bit. "Nonetheless, my own mind hath been decided."

* * *

_The next morning..._

"Awake'th, Crono!" Frog shouted. The party started to get out of the cots. They were surprised, however, to see Frog wearing the Hero's Medal on his armor, and the Masamune strapped to his side. As Edward transmuted the cots back into the rock wall, Frog stated, "Though we may fail... let us go to Magus's lair." He glanced at Alexander. "Thou knowest his power?"

Alexander summoned the Lightning Guard. "Do I! I'm going to relish this upcoming boss battle."

Lucca brandished her gun. "Nothing can beat science!"

Robo nodded, and got into a fighting stance. "We must do it to save out future!"

Edward and Alphonse also got into fighting stances. "I don't think he's going to expect the power of alchemy coming his way!" Edward declared.

Alphonse looked a little worried, however. "Okay, so Frog's gonna be a party member. That means either Lucca or Robo will have to leave..."

"I will leave," Robo replied. "I suspect you'll need magic to fight Magus, I unfortunately cannot wield any."

Alex snapped his fingers. "Magic! That's right, we need to go to the End of Time!" When everyone glanced at him strangely, Alexander grinned and said, "There's one last errand we need to run! But then it's time to head to Magus's lair!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	15. A Clash of Magics

Chapter 15  
A Clash of Magics

Alexander sent Robo through a portal to the End of Time, but he then led the party up to Truce Canyon and took the Gate there anyway. So it seemed rather superfluous that they sent Robo back first. Then again, they now had three party members from this world, and Robo would've made four, thus preventing travel through the Gates.

But that wasn't really what was on Alex's mind at the moment. He was instead getting quite a bit of amusement just by watching Frog's expression throughout the entire trip. It went from confusion to amazement, to shock, to realization, and then back to confusion to just repeat itself again. And on a frog's face, that's quite a sight.

The old man standing under the lamppost greeted them as they walked onto the main platform. "What a strange new guest!" he remarked. "Are **you** from the Middle Ages?"

Flustered, Frog nodded and mumbled, "Th-Thou art indeed correct, sir." Still bewildered, he followed Alexander into Spekkio's room, leaving the others to converse amongst themselves. He was then further amazed by the sight of Spekkio, who looked to him like the blue, heavy, muscled creature that Alex saw before.

Alexander couldn't hold back his grin. "Spekkio! I have another person for ya! What magic does he use?"

Spekkio looked down at them, focusing on Frog (whose hand began to stray toward the Masamune at his side). He then smirked and said, "This frog guy's Water! _Ispo facto, meeny moe... __**magico!**_"

A bubble of water appeared around Frog, which became steadily smaller and smaller until it eventually merged with his body. His eyes widened as he felt the Water magic enter his being. Frog stared at his hand for a little while. "Magic...?" he muttered to himself.

Alex waved to Spekkio. "Thanks, Spekkio. Now that detour's taken care of. Now, off to Magus's castle!" he added as he started to walk out the door, Frog eventually following suit.

Spekkio nodded. "Any time, friends. Remember, **I'm** the Master of War!"

* * *

The party of Crono, Lucca, Frog, Alex, Edward, and Alphonse left for Truce Canyon again and made the trek down to the southern continent. Once there, they started heading east of Dorino Village, toward a cave Alex knew about. Having nothing better to do, they talked along the way.

"So you have Water magic like me?" Alphonse repeated, interested by the similarity. Glancing over at Alex, he asked, "Did you already know about Frog's abilities?"

"Well, yeah," Alexander replied matter-of-factly. "What part of 'I've beaten the game twice already' didn't you get?"

Lucca rolled her eyes. "Would you get over yourself already!?" she berated the Interference. "Okay, so you know about the events in the game. That doesn't mean you're superior to us in reality!"

Crono didn't say anything as usual, but he gave a nod of approval to this comment.

Edward also threw in his two cents. "Yeah, I'm getting a little sick of this whole process. You keep whatever plans you have a secret until it's already happened!" he noted, scowling at him. "Can't we be let in on some of the plans, for once? Or can we not be trusted with the knowledge?"

Alexander stopped and looked back at all of them, appalled by this behavior. And it looked like all of them were united against him on this. Frowning slightly, he replied, "Despite what my title implies, I try not to make too many changes to the storyline. If I were to tell you what was going to happen, that might influence you guys in such a way that it might... throw everything out of line."

"Sure..." Lucca grumbled, "but that scheme in the prehistoric era? Couldn't that have been handled better than that? I mean, seriously!"

Alphonse nodded. "Stealing the Gate Key and running off with it..."

Edward glared at Alex. "...and then handling the Reptite Lair on your own when it was stolen?"

"I managed it, didn't I!?" Alex shouted back. "I got through it _on my own_, and I saved ourselves a couple of hours than what it would've taken in the _normal storyline_!!"

"Then why were you **complaining** all the way back, huh!?" Edward retorted, referring to the fact that Alex had moaned and groaned about the trip for quite a while afterward.

The tension had risen so much that it looked like the two boys were about to come to blows, but there was fortunately an intervention. Frog suddenly stood between them, shouting, "Desist, Karsath and Elric! This quarrel shan't get thee anywhere!"

Alex and Edward backed off, but there was still some muttering under their breath. Once the tension had slowly simmered down to a simple uneasiness, Frog regained his normal composure and pointed toward the mountain they were coming up to. "Is this not the Magic Cave thou hadst spoken of, Alexander?"

Alex simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Frog walked over to the rock wall and placed a hand on it. The knight lowered his head as if in contemplation, and Alex supposed that he was probably having a flashback of Cyrus again.

A few moments passed in silence. Then, Frog took out the Masamune from its sheath and stabbed it into the ground. Staring at it with determination, he declared, "Mine name is Glenn! Cyrus's hopes and dreams... And now the Masamune... Forthwith I shall slay Magus and restore honor!!" He grabbed onto the sword and pulled up with all of his might, but the sword resisted for a moment and sent small sparks through the ground.

At last, Frog pulled out the Masamune from the ground and lifted it high into the air. A blue glow enveloped his body and spread out for many yards in all directions, and then became a narrow beam of light that stretched up into the sky from his sword. As the energy became focused into the sword, Frog dashed over to the rock wall and slashed downward on it, creating an explosion of energy that ripped through the rock, sliding part of the wall over to reveal a cave entrance. Piles of stone fell from the mountain above and scattered across the ground around them.

After such a display, there was no point in waiting for the excitement of the moment to dissipate. The party ran right into the cave entrance.

* * *

As soon as they entered the cave, Alexander noticed a strange, small bat with red eyes drop down from the ceiling and hover around them, barely within sight. None of the others seemed to take note of this. Then again, they were more concerned about the monsters they would soon face.

There were two purple rat-like creatures (called Gremlins) and a blackish-gray bat (called a Vamp) ahead of them. As they got into a fighting stance, Edward muttered, "So, any _advice_ for us, Alex?"

Alex winced as the sarcasm dripped from the statement, but he still said, "Well, those Gremlins are resistant to physical damage, so magic will just have to do for them. The Vamps don't have too many special effects to speak of..."

He didn't have any time to speak further, because the creatures noticed them and were ready to attack. Alex barely noticed the strange bat rising up toward the ceiling to avoid the battle.

Edward grinned and clapped his hands, placing them on the ground. Blue sparks coursed through the rock floor, and then began transmuting the rock until it rose up around the Gremlins, becoming bonds of iron that kept them in place. Meanwhile, Lucca fired her gun at the Vamp, which was doing its best to dodge the shots.

Alex summoned the Lightning Guard and shouted, "_Slash_!" He cut downward with the shield's blade and let loose an arc of white energy, which flew toward the Vamp and cut through it. This disoriented it long enough to let Lucca fire a shot that rang true to finish it off.

Golden energy floated up from Crono's body, and a bolt of lightning crashed down on one of the Gremlins. Edward then launched a Fire spell at that Gremlin, burning it along with the iron bars that restrained it. The iron became rather heated by the magical flame, and continued to damage the Gremlin until it faded in a red glow. In that time, Alphonse and Frog had lobbed Water spells at the other Gremlin, and Alex had finished that one of with a Lightning spell that was made more effective by the conductive water.

With the battle finished, the strange bat from before came back down and hovered around them. This time, the others managed to notice it. Still wary, Lucca hesitantly asked, "Um... is it just me, or does it seem like this bat is following us?"

Alex groaned as everyone's gaze turned to him, with more force than ever before. Knowing he couldn't get away with a vague answer, he went for the blunt truth. "It's one of Magus's minions in disguise, I think. I'm not sure what it is or if it poses that much of a threat to us, though..." he added shamefully. And it was the truth. It had been a long while since he'd been through the events at Magus's castle. Heck, it had been a long while since he'd played Chrono Trigger at all! What he remembered was from the fact that he'd played so much of it back then.

Frog nodded, and started walking through the tunnel ahead. They made a right turn, and then the path doubled back and brought them to a larger room with two Vamps and a Gremlin waiting. Once again, the strange bat rose up to the ceiling.

Alex summoned the Lightning Guard again. "I'm all for getting through this as quickly as possible," he muttered. "Anyone up for a Limit? I might be able to come up with something."

"I've got one comin' your way!" Edward shouted, a ring of fire rising up to his hand. "_Fire_!" A fireball flew forth from the alchemist and landed on the Lockshield, setting it aflame.

Alex looked at the enemies ahead. By a stroke of luck, they were currently arranged all in a row from the boy. He grinned and jumped up into the air with his fiery shield. "_Firespin Cut_!" he shouted, using the Spincut technique and spinning around at high speeds until he began to blur. He then shot through the enemies in a straight line, slashing them with the flame-enhanced blade. Alexander landed on the ground behind the last Gremlin and stood there as they all faded away. He looked back and grinned at the rest of the party, giving Edward a thumbs-up.

Edward rolled his eyes and gave Alex a thumbs-up back. It was then in that moment that no less than five Gremlins came out of holes in the cave walls and dashed past Alexander, knocking him over in a less than graceful fashion. _**Heehee... Well, there goes the moment. Sucks to be you, huh?**_

The Interference shook his head and stood up... only to see his comrades chuckling at the sight of him. Still, there was no point in getting angry. He just sighed and walking down the path, only giving the return of the strange bat a glance.

They came to a much larger clearing, where the five Gremlins from before were all running around crazily. Still angry by the embarrassment, Alex shouted, "That's it! I'm using a Drive Form!"

Edward shrugged. "Fair enough."

"_Power_!" Alex's head and limbs snapped back, and light shot out from his body. The light enveloped Lucca, and Alexander's garments were a bright blue when it faded. Wasting no time, Alex pointed the Heartless Seal at the Gremlins and yelled, "_Magnega_!" An orb of magnetic energy appeared in the middle of the throng of creatures, sucking them all in and damaging them with the equivalent of Shadow magic damage. Then, while they were still all together, Alex cast a Thundaga spell and zapped the group in one shot, sending them all into oblivion.

Out of nowhere, two more Gremlins appeared in the clearing, along with two Vamps flying down from the rocky staircase to the left. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. A huge lance rose up from the stone, which Alphonse immediately grabbed and began to use on the Vamps. Meanwhile, Frog and Crono started launching Water and Lightning spells at the Gremlins. Frog used Water first, then let Crono's Lightning shock them with extra force.

Alphonse whacked the last Vamp out of the air and into the cave wall. Both collisions carried enough force to defeat it, and its fall marked the end of that battle. Alex reverted from his Wisdom Form, and Lucca appeared beside him. Alexander had a grin on his face. Looking toward the stairs, he grinned wider and started running.

Suddenly, he began to blur as he ran quickly up the stairs, moving too fast for any normal person to be running. When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and thrust his fist into the air. "Sweet! I finally have the first level of Quick Run!"

_**Huh?**_ Joumae mumbled, confused by this turn of events. **_I thought Wisdom Form only got experience when you defeated a Heartless._**

_Sure,_ Alex replied internally, _but there are no Heartless in this time period. So this world's laws are going to get shaky on those grounds, right? That means I can qualify any monster defeated in Wisdom Form as experience right now._

_**Oh, I get it. You're basically **_**cheating****_ the universe,_** Joumae muttered sarcastically. But then there was a thoughtful pause. _**Wait a minute... Why **_**aren't****_ there Heartless in this time period, yet we found nothing but them in the future era?_**

Alexander thought about that as the others caught up with him. _Well... the only major clue we have is that Elaeus and Lavos had already wrecked the world in that time. Maybe the Heartless – under Elaeus's command – had only been a part of that. The apocalypse of this world won't happen for about another 1400 years, so they probably won't appear yet._

"Alex?" Alphonse said, drawing the boy out of his thoughts. "We're at the exit now," he added, pointing at the light coming from the cave exit. Alex nodded, and started walking in that direction.

However, Crono was inspecting a dead soldier's body right next to the exit. He cringed as he held up a parchment with a bunch of red writing on it. A note written in _blood_! Edward took the note and began to read it aloud: _"The Juggler in Magus's castle... strengthens his guard when attacked. Beware!"_

"Juggler?" Lucca repeated. "Is that a type of enemy we'll face in there?"

Alexander shrugged. "Probably." And with nothing further to be said, they left the cave, leaving the soldier and the note still laying there as a grim warning to anyone else.

* * *

Night had just about fallen by this point. The party left the cave and approached the large establishment to the north, which was in the middle of a large wood. The group made it through the sparse woods and came to the front gate of the large castle.

Everyone stopped to look up at the sheer height of the castle. Frog stepped forward, looking on in awe. "This can only be..." A bunch of bats flew out from the forest, rising up to the peak of the castle where the statue of a dragon stood there as an imposing sign, silhouetted by the full moon. "...Magus's castle...!"

The castle was made up by three large cylindrical pillars, the highest one in the middle almost twice as tall as the two on the side. The gate itself was pitch black, twice as tall as Alphonse, and had skull designs along the seam of the double doors. Still, Crono was the first to step forward and push open the doors to the castle, leading the others inside. They crossed the brightly lit courtyard and walked through the front door.

Edward ducked as the strange bat from before flew by his head. "Dammit, this bat's _still_ following us!!"

Alexander took little notice to this as he looked around the main hall of the castle. It was really quite dark; the little lighting there was came from a few candles on a couple of pedestals and on the walls. There were a couple of dragon statues lining the red carpet path, which led up the grand staircase ahead where the path split into two.

The party climbed the staircase and, after a very brief discussion, went to the left and climbed the stairs into the west wing. They continued down the long hallway, and were immensely surprised by what they saw and heard. There were random generic townsfolk meandering around the hallway, ranging from little kids to young men and women. And they didn't say much either. Just a small chuckle as they passed, or nothing at all.

They climbed the stairs in the back, which led to a small room with nothing but a throne against the wall with a sword sheath hanging above it. Edward raised an eyebrow. "That's it? We've come to a dead end?"

Alex nodded. "Let's go back and head the other way."

Having no better idea, the party returned to the main hall and went up to the east wing. They came to a small room with four kids standing around a treasure chest. The children didn't even budge as the party approached. They were just as silent as the people in the west wing. Nonplussed, the party moved on to the next room.

When they reached the top of the next flight of stairs, Lucca suddenly gasped. They had entered a long hallway almost exactly like the one in the west wing. But that wasn't what had startled her. What startled her was the man standing on the red carpet, grinning at her. "Well, if it isn't Lucca!"

"T-Taban!?" Lucca stuttered, absolutely boggled. She tried to approach him, but Alexander stopped her.

Before she could question it, Alex said, "Don't bother. It's not really Taban. Why would he be here in 600 AD, Magus's castle, and be as nonchalant as he is now?"

Lucca looked back at Taban, who was still smiling at her. As the party eventually passed him, he still remained in one spot, meandering around. Lucca eventually put the thoughts aside, considering that Taban wasn't pursuing her.

"Besides," Alex added, "you're not alone in this room."

Frog suddenly gasped. "Queen Leene!!"

Indeed, Queen Leene was standing in the middle of the large hallway, smiling at them just as Taban had. Looking relieved, she said, "Frog, you're safe!"

Frog took a step forward, but then caught himself and took a couple of steps back. "This is another illusion, is it not, Alexander?" he asked hesitantly, his eyes still locked on Leene.

Alex nodded. "Let's move on, shall we? There's one more of these that you need to watch out for, though..."

Crono flinched suddenly, startled by the sight ahead of them. In the back of the room, right before the stairs, was Crono's _mother_. As soon as they made eye contact, Crono's mom glared at him. "Crono!" she cried out. "So **this** is where you've been since the Festival! You had me worried sick!"

The poor boy looked ashamed, and almost seemed like he was about to explain his situation. But he caught himself quickly and glanced at Alexander, who simply nodded. The party walked past Crono's mother, who continued to glare at them.

They came to another small throne room, with absolutely nothing interesting inside. Edward groaned loudly to voice everyone's annoyance. "Geez, is there any way to get to Magus? If we don't run into some Mystics soon, I'm gonna start breaking things."

Alexander chuckled a little bit, but soon became serious again. "That's the weird thing about this castle. You have to go through all of those people so that the confusion catches you off guard. Once we return to the main hall, the real action will begin." He looked up at the bat that was still following them around, but kept his thoughts to himself.

* * *

Upon their return to the entrance hall, they discovered something that hadn't been there before. "Huh? What's that?" Alphonse was the first to ask. He pointed at a bunch of floating, sparkling crystals that were clustered above the landing of the first large staircase.

Alexander grunted. "That... is probably a save point." When everyone gave him a strange look, he said, "A guy can't play an RPG video game for three days straight. He is allowed to play at intervals. That's where these save points come in. You can save the game here, turn the game off, and return to the game and start from this point. Also, if the party is wiped out – like, say, at a boss battle – the player can return to this point and try again from there, hopefully not losing too much work."

Lucca nodded, taking this all in. "So why haven't we seen these things until now?"

"Because reality isn't a game," Alex immediately replied. "There aren't such functions available to us in real life. That's why we never saw any so far in Amestris, neither here in Guardia." He didn't mention the fact that there _were_ save points in the Kingdom Hearts universe, but they were only used for returning to the gummi ship.

Frog looked at the save point curiously. "Then... why doth this 'save point' appear before us now?"

Alex smirked and walked over to the save point. "Because... _this_ save point..." He placed a hand on one of the crystals, and a ringing sound resonated throughout the entire entrance hall. "...is a fake trigger."

The room went completely dark for a few moments. When the light returned, there was a rather large figure floating above them. The strange bat flew up and hovered beside it. Frog immediately recognized the stranger. "Ozzie!"

Ozzie sneered at them. "Welcome, Glenn! Or should I say, Sir _Froggy_!" He cackled at his remark toward Frog's appearance. Noticing the rest of the party, he said, "Say, looks like you got some replacements for Cyrus!" The fat Mystic shook his head. "Magus is a tad busy right now. You'll have to take your business up with me... the swordsman, Slash, and Flea, the magician... And...!"

The strange bat flew away. Out of absolutely nowhere, two Vamps and four violet-armored Henches appeared in the entrance hall. The party took fighting stances as Ozzie added, "You'll have to defeat all **100** of the beasts in Magus's castle!!"

Ozzie faded away, leaving the others surrounded by the monsters. Edward gave the Mystics an evil grin. "Finally, time to crunch heads! Six on six!" He dashed forward and gave one of the Henches a spin kick, sending it tumbling down the stairs. Alphonse followed suit and punched another Hench down the stairs.

Crono and Frog took on the Henches on the side paths, cutting them up with their swords. Meanwhile, Lucca and Alexander focused on the two Vamps flying around. Lucca kept shooting at them with her gun, while Alex used the Strike Raid technique to hurl his shield at the bats.

With each of them focused on one enemy, it wasn't long before the enemies were defeated. The party met back together to discuss this turn of events. "Well, that's six enemies," Alexander noted. "That leaves another ninety-four to go."

"Plus Ozzie, those 'Slash' and 'Flea' guys he mentioned, along with Magus," Edward added, still grinning. "It's gonna be fun!"

The rest of the party wasn't so enthusiastic. "Ninety-four enemies!?" Lucca repeated incredulously. "That could take hours to churn through! And I'm not sure we're all strong enough for that! Or do we even have enough _stamina_ to _last_ that long?!"

"We do have magic..." Alphonse cut in. "With the healing spells and attack spells we have, it might be easier than it sounds."

"Not only that," Alex continued, "but we're around the point where we begin to utilize the level two spells." Once again, everyone gave him a questioning look. "I mean, the multiple-target techniques like Lightning 2, Fire 2, Water 2, Cure 2..."

Edward grinned even wider. "Well, what are we waiting for, then? We aren't gonna get those spells unless we get the experience! Let's get going!"

So they started down on the left path first. They climbed the stairs into the hallway, and were greeted with a startling sight. Instead of the townsfolk they'd seen the first time, they were now confronted with a large hulking armored humanoid with a mace (called an Omnicrone) as well as four skeletal undead creatures with spears (called Decedents).

The Decedents were moving as one in a circle, while the Omnicrone shouted, "Dance, **dance**!! For tonight our leader is to be born!" As the pursuing bat flew up to the ceiling, the Omnicrone looked back at the party and cried, "Ah! Here comes the sacrifice!"

The monsters formed a circle around the party, which got into fighting stances. Alex looked around at the enemies, trying to remember what their properties were. After a few moments, he said to the others, "That Omnicrone is immune to magic, so watch out! The Decedents are fine!"

_**Wait, isn't there some kind of strange weakness that undead have?**_ Joumae butted in. **_Like, healing magics have the opposite effect on them or something?_**

Alexander summoned the Heartless Seal and stood there for a moment while the others attacked. That was true – in the Final Fantasy games he'd played (which were VI and XII), targeting an undead with a curative spell or item would cause damage. But in Chrono Trigger, there had never been such a concept as targeting an enemy with a tech intended for allies. So there hadn't been a way in the game to test that theory.

But right now, it was a reality. They were allowed to be creative.

His thoughts were put aside as one of the Decedents leaped over him and came crashing down on top of him, spear first. Alex tried his best to dodge it, but the tip of the spear still caught him in the shoulder. It was an old, dull spear, so it didn't pierce the magical garments (not that much could; he had to thank Yen Sid and the three good fairies for that). However, it still did quite enough damage for him to be stunned long enough for another Decedent to swipe at his legs, tripping the boy.

Alex recovered from the pain and looked up from his prone position. The Omnicrone was standing over him, holding its mace over its head. The Omnicrone started to bring the mace down, but Alphonse quickly stepped in and grabbed the Mystic's hands, locking it in place. Edward then jumped onto Alphonse's shoulders and leaped toward the Omnicrone, slashing at it with his recently transmuted armblade.

Lucca fired a few shots, taking out the Decedents that were around Alexander. She then walked over to him and helped him back onto his feet. Smiling at him, she said, "Well, it looks like even Interferences need help sometimes."

Under normal circumstances, Alex would've taken offense at this teasing. However, he figured that there was more to Lucca's statement than that. So he remained silent until the fight was over, and the party regrouped. He looked at all of his comrades and said, "Thanks, guys. I..." He sighed, feeling shame at his earlier convictions. "I'm sorry about before. I got so caught up with the concept of being an Interference that I forgot my own limitations... and I forgot that I still need to have friends to count on."

Edward shrugged. "Hey, it's fine. I had a feeling you'd need a reality check sooner or later."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks for your enthusiasm..." He paused and smirked. "...you midget."

"**Who're you callin' a...!**" Edward began, closing in on Alex. But Alphonse clamped a metal hand over his mouth and held back the flailing alchemist. Everyone else had a nice chuckle at that.

Frog gestured at where the monsters had once been. "The count now is _eleven_ fallen enemies, is it not? Let us continue." He glanced up as the strange bat returned, but walked onward.

They climbed the stairs to the next landing, and found yet a group of enemies exactly the same as the one before: one Omnicrone and four Decedents. The Decedents were sparring against themselves in pairs, while the Omnicrone watched. "Only a moron would try to kill something that's already dead!" it remarked with glee. It then saw the party's approach. "H...humans!"

The bat flew up again. Alexander grinned and held up the Heartless Seal as the monsters turned toward them. "So they really are undead, huh? Let's test a little technicality, then! _Curaga_!" A green aura filled up the entire room, healing the party of its wounds. But the aura also extended to the enemies at Alex's will. When the green light passed over the Decedents, they suddenly shuddered and crumbled down into piles of bones.

"Hah! So it does work!" Alex exclaimed, turning his focus to the stunned Omnicrone. "That makes things one heck of a lot easier!"

Crono and Frog charged at the Omnicrone and slashed through it together in an X pattern. Alphonse then rushed in and took the mace from its hands while it was stunned. Alphonse then spun around with the mace out in front of him, slamming it into the Omnicrone's body and crushing it with one devastating blow. When it faded, Alphonse yelled, "That's sixteen!"

The strange bat returned, and the party took the next flight of stairs into the strange throne room they'd visited the first time. They saw five townsfolk there – the ones they'd seen before in the previous hallway. There were two at each side, and one standing in front of the throne. The one in front mumbled, "Please help..."

When they all turned to the party, they had suddenly transformed into Decedents. "Relieve us of this misery!"

"Augh!" Edward exclaimed, jumping away from them and getting into a fighting stance. "Alex, fire off another one of those healing spells!"

"Are you kidding!?" Alex shouted back. "That used up all of my magic power – I have to wait for it to charge back up!"

Edward groaned again, and looked at his brother. "Al! Don't you have a heal spell that's multiple-target?"

Alphonse looked a little unsure, but he summoned up his magic power and shouted, "_Heal_!" Blue sparks flew up from his body and rained down onto the Decedents. The healing magic obviously affected them, evidenced by the amount of shuddering they did under the magic's power, but they didn't crumble like last time.

Lucca grimaced. "That spell probably didn't have as much power as Curaga..."

"_Heal_!" Another set of blue sparks rained down on the Decedents. This time, they crumbled away and became simple piles of bones under the magic power. Everyone shot a look at Frog, the one who had launched the spell. Frog smirked back at them.

"Hmmm..." a voice came out of nowhere. "How did you get past my... cadaver pals?" The room went dark for a moment, and a strange figure appeared in the back of the room.

Frog grimaced. "It's been ages, Sir _Slush_!" The last word came out rather sarcastically.

The stranger floated in the air, glaring back at Frog. It was a tall, lean creature with blue skin and a head that resembled an Imp's. It wore golden chest armor with a white trenchcoat, purple pants, and light brown boots. "That's **Slash**, you slimy dolt! Still playing the comedian, eh Glenn? You'd be singing a different tune if Cyrus hadn't been there with you last time!" He took on a fighting stance. "You'd have fit right in with those bony fellows you just busted up!"

Edward grinned and clapped his hands. "So you're the swordsman Slash that Ozzie told us about?" He then placed his hands on the ground and transmuted a lance into his hands. "I don't see a sword on you, and we have you outnumbered six to one!" he proclaimed, twirling his lance.

Slash smirked. "So it seems. I had thought I might take you all on without my sword, but it seems it's time for us to get to business. This is going to do me a world of good!" He jumped up to the space above the throne and grabbed the sword hung above it. It was a long, sharp katana that had apparently seen plenty of effective use in the past. "And without any Cyrus to protect you, you're mine! You dare to oppose me!?"

"Watch us!" Alexander contended. He switched his Lockshield to the Crimson Catalyst and lengthened the shield's blade with alchemy until it ended in a point.

Slash, however, had floated into one corner of the room already. He brought his sword down and let out a blade of white energy that raced toward a couple of the party members. Alex and Crono almost jumped in surprise. That was the _Slash_ technique!

_**Great, his main staple attack is also a pun on his own name...**_

Alex groaned as he ran out of the way of the attack along with Lucca and Alphonse, who'd also been in the line of fire. Frog moved in and jumped toward Slash with the Masamune raised, but Slash simply floated to another part of the room and launched another of his own attacks. More attempts to attack the swordsman went like this, but none of them worked.

Edward, after taking the full force of a _Slash_ blade, looked like he'd had enough. "Arrgh!! Would you just _stop moving_?!" Suddenly, a fireball traveled around Edward's body and then sunk into the ground at his feet. A circular wave of red energy coursed through the entire room from the center, and a number of magical explosions were left in the energy's wake. This technique not only caught Slash by surprise, but he also took quite a bit of damage.

The alchemist looked surprised by this turn of events. "What the **heck** was that!?" he demanded immediately.

Alphonse sounded excited as he said, "I think that was a new spell, brother! Like Alex said: Fire 2!"

_That's absolutely right,_ Alex thought to himself, but he didn't feel that he had time to confirm it. He charged at Slash while the swordsman was still stunned by the Fire 2 spell. Alexander swung the lengthened blade of the Lockshield at him, but Slash recovered and brought up his own sword to meet Alexander's weapon. They struggled against each other for a few moments, and then Slash floated up and over the boy.

Alex brought his shield into the defensive as Slash tried to cut along his center from behind him. The sword glanced off the shield, but the force of the blow shook Alexander's balance a fair bit. Slash then attacked him with a flurry of rapid strikes, which Alex barely blocked.

Lucca came up behind Slash and pulled out a moderately large hammer from her coat. She tried to whack Slash in the head with it, but the swordsman quickly stopped his flurry attack and jumped over the strike, ready to reward the attempted assault in kind.

Out of nowhere, however, Frog leaped up and stabbed the Masamune into his back. Leaving the sword embedded in Slash's back, the knight landed on the ground and looked toward Crono. "Now, Sir Crono!"

Crono nodded, and some small lightning sparks started to zap random sections of the room as the presence of Lightning magic in the air increased. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning struck the Masamune, sending the voltage into the sword and subsequently into Slash's very nervous system. A lethal blow.

Frog grabbed his sword and pulled it out of Slash, who had stopped floating and had now landed in front of the small throne in the room. "Unbelievable...!" he uttered, his body beginning to go limp. "But falling in the line of duty for Magus... leaves me with few regrets...!"

A bright flash filled the room, and Slash was gone when it faded. All there was now was Slash's sword, packed in its sheath on the floor. Alexander walked over to it and picked it up, pulling the sword out slightly to check that the blade was still usable. He nodded to himself, and tossed the blade in Crono's direction. "Here ya go, Crono. A weapon upgrade for ya. The 'Slasher', if I remember correctly."

Crono awkwardly caught the sword and unsheathed it, inspecting the blade for a few moments. After some consideration, he nodded and sheathed the Red Katana and placed it in the inventory bag. He then tied the sheath of the Slasher to his waist, and sheathed his new sword.

Alphonse made a quick count in his head. "That's... uh, 21 Mystics defeated, as well as Slash so far."

Edward chortled. "Which leaves 79 more to go, along with Flea, Ozzie, and Magus himself." He looked up at the strange bat from before, which had finally returned. "Now... who wants to bet on this 'Flea' person being in the opposite wing?"

* * *

Actually, Alphonse's count had been somewhat wrong. They had to fight the same teams of Omnicrones and Decedents on the way _back_ to the main hall. That was ten more enemies, which left the remainder as only _69_ enemies to go.

"_Only_?" Lucca repeated incredulously while staring at Alexander, the one who had made the deduction and description. Still, leaving that trivial matter behind, the party started on the path to the east wing after replenishing health and magic power with curing spells and their remaining Mid Ethers.

They found themselves back in that first room, with the kids standing around the treasure. As the party approached them, one of the boys turned to them and quietly inquired, "Do you want our treasure...?"

"Yes," Crono responded slowly, his hand straying toward his new sword.

The kid took on a sneer that was all too evil for such a small boy. "In that case, will you... Play with us! Please! Pretty please!" As the collective cries continued, all four of the children suddenly transformed into creatures that resembled piles of blue slime that stretched up and formed a face and arms. These were called Shadows. Upon seeing the commencing battle, the bat following them flew up to the ceiling yet again.

Alex knew that these monsters had special properties, but he couldn't say anything before Crono dashed forward and slashed at one of them with his sword. The sword went right through the monster without affecting it. While Crono was confused by this, the Shadow he'd tried to attack suddenly stretched out and rammed Crono, sending him sprawling backward.

"If you'd waited," Alexander muttered, "I could've told you that these Shadows are completely immune to physical attacks! They have one point of health, but they can only be damaged by certain non-physical techniques!" As if to prove his own point, he stepped into the middle of the room and shouted, "_Lightning 2_!" Golden energy surrounded him for a moment, and waves of electrical energy started to run through the entire room. There were four waves, rotating around Alex as the center. They shocked the Shadows, making them all fade away in red light.

Alex regained his composure, looking rather... excited by what he'd just done. Sure, he'd pulled off a technique that'd wiped out the enemies, but it was much more than that. With lesser magics that he'd used before, there had always been the feeling of exertion when using magic, along with a little rush. With greater levels of magic like Lightning 2, there had been an _incredible_ rush of power through his body at the time, like the electricity was pumping through his body itself. This use of magic made him feel more alive than he'd ever felt in a long time.

Of course, there was an equally heavy feeling of exertion involved as well, but one or the other could be ignored for a little while.

The strange bat returned. Edward walked over to the treasure chest and opened it. He picked up what seemed to be a green sphere of some sort. "Huh? What the heck is this?"

Lucca came up to him and inspected the item, adjusting her glasses slightly as she did so. "I believe that's an item called a Barrier. It's causes a similar effect to what my Protect magic does, except that it helps defend against magical attacks."

"Uh, yeah, the Shell effect," Alexander finished lamely, rather astonished. "Um, how did you know that? I had thought I was going to have to explain."

Lucca shrugged. "I've done some reading. And these kinds of items can sometimes be found in shops. Not a lot of the time, but sometimes. Anyway," she added, taking the Barrier and placing it in the inventory bag, "we'll probably be needing this, right? Seeing as this 'Flea' person is a magician and all."

"Uh-huh..." Alex mumbled again, still shocked. He was going to need some time to adjust. In the previous adventures, he'd been the one that had explained just about everything when questions needed asking. Now he was becoming just another essential party member. This change would be for the better in the long run, considering that the latter position emphasized on teamwork, but it was going to take some time.

They climbed the next stairway, and Lucca braced herself. Standing in the middle of the hallway again was Taban. His expression was different, however. "Well, if it isn't Lucca!" he remarked again, repeating what he'd said earlier. The bat flew away again as he added, "You're **still** alive, my dear!?"

As an aside, when _any_ father figure seriously questions the fact that you're still breathing, it's usually time to reconsider whether they really are a father figure or not. Lucca did this immediately, and came to a quick conclusion in the negative. The suspicions were totally confirmed as Taban was overtaken by a small explosion that marked his transformation into a blue djinn-like creature (called a Sorcerer). Two Henches and two Vamps appeared beside him.

Alphonse summoned up some magical energy and yelled, "_Water 2_!" The room around them suddenly took on a blue aura, and a large wave of water crashed through the line of enemies. When it hit the Sorcerer, though, it seemed to absorb the impact of the magical water attack. The other enemies were decimated.

"That's the thing about these new Sorcerer types!" Alex informed the others once the aura had dissipated. "They absorb magic attacks and use the energy to heal themselves! Of course, when they're already at peak condition, that's nothing to worry about! It does mean that only regular attacks will work, though."

"Enough talk!" Edward growled, twirling the lance he still had and charging at the enemy. The alchemist stabbed the Mystic a few times, then transmuted the weapon so that it had a blade on each end, so he could twirl it around and slash the enemy twofold. The Sorcerer soon fell under the quick assault from the short alchemist.

The party kept their weapons ready as they approached the next figure down the hall. Frog's face betrayed his internal struggle as he came close to Queen Leene. Or, assuming the pattern still held, a monster posing as Queen Leene.

"Frog, you're safe!" Leene gasped. She then took on an evil sneer. "I guess we'd better do something about that!" An explosion took over her as she transformed into a Sorcerer, and pairs of Vamps and Henches appeared just as before.

Growling angrily, Frog leaped up into the air and brought the Masamune straight down on the Sorcerer in his Leap Slash technique. The Sorcerer retaliated by raising its hands into the air and causing the area the party was standing in to become bright red. The floor turned incredibly hot underneath their feet, and piles of stone from the ceiling and floor bashed against their bodies. Alex winced as he recognized the Sorcerer's Destruction Zone technique.

The red aura disappeared, and the floor returned to its normal state. Crono rushed at the Sorcerer and slashed at it with the Slasher katana, which carried enough power to finish it off. However, one of the Henches jumped into the air and slammed into Crono's back, knocking him away. Alphonse closed in and kicked it into the wall, and then used his Heal magic to recover the party's health.

Edward stabbed one of the Henches a couple of times with his lance, then clapped his hands and placed them on the ground, transmuting a row of Stonespikes that impaled the Mystic. Lucca took a few shots at the Vamps, some of them missing. She then cast a Fire spell onto one of the Vamps, destroying it for good.

Alexander hefted his Heartless Seal Lockshield over his shoulder and shouted, "_Strike Raid_!" He quickly hurled the Lockshield as hard as he could toward the other Vamp. The shield's blade sliced cleanly through the bat creature, forcing it to fade away in red light.

Alphonse punched the first Hench into the wall again, defeating it. Seeing that the rest of the battle was finished, he mumbled something to himself and then said, "So that's... uh, 55 enemies to go."

Edward nodded and looked further down the hall. "Those two packs of enemies were exactly the same. I'm guessing that this last one will be the same five enemies as well. That'll make 50 to go, and then we'll be defeating Flea, right?"

Crono said nothing as usual, but advanced toward the monster pretending to be his mother. His mother looked back at him, repeating her usual statement: "Crono! So **this** is where you've been since the Festival! You had me worried sick!" She then grimly added, "Children **this** naughty... deserve to be punished!"

As Edward predicted, Crono's mother transformed into a Sorcerer, and summoned the same pair of Vamps and Henches by its side. The alchemist himself, though, was not too happy that his prediction had been correct. "Alright, this is getting old!" He clapped his hands, and yelled, "Al! Alexander! I'll need your help with this one!"

Edward placed his hands on the ground, and the floor was covered with blue sparks for a moment. When it faded, a large shining transmutation circle had been etched into the floor, surrounding all of the Mystics. Alexander and Alphonse studied how the circle was written for a moment, and got the general idea of what Edward was trying to do. Alexander switched his Lockshield to the Crimson Catalyst, and they placed their hands on the circle as well.

The transmutation circle glowed brighter, and every corner of the room was overtaken by bright white sparks. Suddenly, gigantic Stonespikes rose out of the floor, walls, and ceiling. All of the stone weapons crashed into the Mystic force, which had been given little time to prepare themselves. The Stonespikes pulverized the Mystics, and a red light bathed the area as all five of the enemies faded away into nothing. There were a few more white sparks as the Stonespikes retracted back into the walls, and the transmutation circle faded away from the floor. When it had finished, it was if nothing had happened in the room.

Edward proudly examined their handiwork. "Let no one say that we don't know how to clean house." He strode forward toward the stairs, and led the way into the throne room ahead that had ended their path last time. However, there was a difference here as well. Floating above the throne was a strange, round, yellow creature. Floating to each side of the creature were pieces of shoulder armor with regal-looking cloth hanging down from them.

"The magician, Flea, I presume?" Frog queried. The creature said nothing, but the party took fighting stances anyway.

Alexander switched his Lockshield to the Lightning Guard design and jumped into the air. "_Spincut_!" He sliced through the creature at high speed, doing twice as much damage as a normal attack would've done. He grinned, knowing that this Mystic was really, really weak.

The creature shuddered as Alex stepped back toward the party, but a golden aura suddenly surrounded it and dispersed. The floor under Alexander's feet suddenly glowed brightly, and yellow light rose up from around him, enveloping him in it before quickly dissipating. The creature faded away, but Alex fell down to the ground.

Lucca ran over to him. "What happened you you?" she demanded quickly.

Alexander slowly got up, but his knees almost buckled. He felt incredibly weakened. "That thing... used its 'MP Buster' thing on me... He sucked up all of my magic power...!" He staggered again, but slowly began to regain his composure. Having the magic ripped out of you was not a pleasant thing at all.

Frog came to a sudden realization. "Wait! That wasn't Flea... Where's the **real** Flea!?" This got everyone else wondering and looking around.

"Mwaha..." a voice came out of nowhere. "Here, over here..."

Edward looked around, but only saw the strange bat hovering around the party... He suddenly groaned loudly. "Augh... Don't tell me that this **bat** following us was Flea this _entire time_!!?"

The bat flew toward the back of the room, which had begun to darken, and a bright white light encompassed it. When the light faded and the room's light returned, a newcomer was standing in the bat's place. It seemed to be a woman with pink skin, with red hair tied into a braid, wearing a white dress and robes tied by a golden sash, and golden boots. "Giving up, little tadpole!?" Flea demanded.

Lucca took a surprised step back. "Hey! Who **are** you!?"

Frog brandished the Masamune. "Keep your guard up!" he advised. "This is no ordinary woman! Meet Flea, the magician!"

Flea's face became a twist of confusion, insult, and disgust. "What the...? Hey, I'm a **guy**!"

"**Augh!!!**" was the collective response to that. Heck, Alex could've sworn he even heard Joumae's voice in that cry. In hindsight, the prior description of 'seemed to be a woman' should have had an emphasis on '_seemed_'."

"Say what!?" Lucca added. "That's a _guy_!?"

Edward's expression of confusion was absolutely priceless. "What the hell...? We came all this way to fight a frickin' _drag queen_!?"

Flea took on a rather feminine pose, adding insult to injury as it were. "Male... female... what's the difference?" _he_ argued. "Power is beautiful, and I've got the power!" _He_ started to cackle, assuming another pose that once again showed no masculinity. "Poor little Froggie! You must be lonely now that Cyrus is gone. And to be turned into something so hideous! Dreadful!"

Alexander rolled his eyes. "Yeah. And, y'know, Slash said something to that effect right before we sent him packing, too."

Flea went back to a normal standing pose, to everyone's relief. "But since you've brought your new friends over to play..." _He_ then assumed a fighting stance. "...I'll show you all a good time!"

The room darkened once more, and it floor, walls, and ceiling were replaced by a starry space swirling around them. The only things that had remained were the throne and the carpet leading to it. They were still standing on some type of floor, but it couldn't be seen.

Edward readied his lance. "Flea's a magician, so magic attacks will be inefficient, right? Magic defense and all that jazz?" When Alexander gave a nod of approval, Edward simply charged in toward Flea.

However, Flea blew a kiss in Edward's direction. While it was an unnerving gesture on its own, it also seemed to signal a telekinetic attack that sent Edward flying back. His lance slipped out of his hands and fell to the side, somehow disappearing into the space beyond once it got far enough away.

Flea grinned, and rushed in toward the short alchemist. "_Waltz of the Wind_!" _he_ (_**He, we have to keep telling ourselves! It's a **_**he**__) intoned.

Alex ignored Joumae's comment, instead panicking on what Flea was about to do. Waltz of the Wind was an attack that did no damage to speak of sometimes, but it _did_ have a chance of inflicting the Chaos status affect. Getting a ghost of an idea, he shouted to Lucca, "Where's that Barrier item!?"

Lucca nodded and pulled out the Barrier. She threw it over to Edward, where it promptly exploded and bathed Edward in green light. A green Shell aura surrounded him, and not too soon either. Flea grabbed Edward and started spinning around with him, becoming so fast that they created a whirlwind. After a few moments of this, Flea let Edward go and returned to his spot, leaving Edward to cope with his newly acquired disorientation.

Still, Edward was looking better than one would expect under the circumstances. Worriedly, Alexander approached him and quietly asked, "Are you okay?"

Edward looked confused, but just shrugged. "I guess... That was a little weird, but not too painful."

Alex sighed in relief. "Ah, that's good. That attack had a chance of putting you under the Chaos effect. That would've made you start attacking _us_ rather than Flea over there."

Flea scowled, seeing that _his_ attack didn't work. "You think you're smart, huh? Alright, then!" _He_ did a little twirl and shouted, "_Prism Beam_!" A rainbow-colored wave of energy spread out toward the party, striking them all with magical damage.

Alexander, however, shuddered violently as the wave passed over him. This just wasn't any energy attack... This was _darkness_ passing over them! While it probably didn't make much of a difference to anyone else, this darkness was connecting to the same element present within his own body... and his darkness was responding.

"Augh!" Alex cried out once the attack had passed. It was painful to resist what his body was trying to do... and it occurred to him that it was probably best just to get it over with. "**Darkness**!" Light shot out from his body, but darkness enveloped his body as he took on another Form. His hands became claws, he was on all fours, darkness flowed freely from his pitch black body, and his eyes glowed bright yellow like those of a Heartless. He was in Anti Form.

"What the...!?" was all Flea was able to say before Anti Alex slammed into _him_. Alexander launched into a flurry of attacks, kicking at Flea with his feet and slashing him with his claws. He zoomed across him in several quick attacks, the combined momentum of which was sending _him_ into the air. Alex then appeared above Flea and dove down, stabbing _him_ with his clawsshoving_ him_ back onto the ground. For a finisher, Anti Alex summoned up a sphere of dark energy in his claws and shoved it down, creating a mass of flowing dark blades that encircled him, slashing up Flea in the process.

Alex jumped back from Flea, and held his head in his claws. Slowly, the darkness faded away from his body, and he reverted back to normal. Flea, on the other hand, was just about finished. "How can this be..." Flea muttered weakly. "Sir Magus..." A bright light enveloped them all.

When the light faded, they were back in the throne room, and Flea was gone. There was a small tab item on the ground where Flea had been, but no one noticed it at the moment. The rest of the party was staring at Alexander with looks of confusion and anger.

Edward was one of the ones that were scowling at him. "You went into Anti Form _again_!? Wasn't that the Form that had almost attacked us back in the Spire of Lebis!?"

Alex did indeed remember that... 

_Feeling that victory had been achieved, Anti Alexander glanced toward Edward and Alphonse. Of course, Alex himself wasn't in control, and the Anti Form wasn't distinguishing between friend or foe. After all, there were some hearts over there for a Heartless to take. It would be tricky to get one out of the soul in the armor, but possible. Anti Alex charged at Edward first._

No!!_ Anti Alex suddenly stopped, and clutched his head. _You're not attacking my friends again!_ Slowly, the darkness faded away from Alex's body, and he reverted back to his normal self. When he felt that he was himself again, he looked up at his shocked friends, then over to Crowley. The fatigue from the heated battle returned to his body, and he fell to his knees._

_  
_Alexander looked ashamed of himself. "Sorry. That Prism Beam thing was a dark attack. It forced my own darkness to respond to it, and I couldn't stop my Anti Form from taking over."

"Still..." Lucca cut in, "that 'Anti Form' thing looked a lot like the Heartless we saw in the future era. Is this thing related to those? 'Cause if it is, I can't help but wonder if we should be concerned that it's a part of you."

Before Alexander could respond, Frog said, "Nonetheless, that technique was that which defeated the magician, Flea. If it can be kept under control, it has proven itself to be an asset." He walked over to the tab that Flea had left behind. It was a Magic Tab. Frog squeezed it in his hand, and a little bit of extra magic power washed over him. He smirked at the others. "I assume I require this more than most of thou, considering my late introduction to magic."

Alphonse shrugged. "Well, if we're done here, we should probably go back to the main hall and try to find the way to Magus."

* * *

On the way back, they had to fight the same teams of Mystics that had been posing as Crono's mother, Queen Leene, and Taban. That meant another 15 defeated enemies, bringing the count down to 35. "We're getting close!" Lucca exclaimed excitedly as they returned to the main hall.

"Actually, I believe Slash and Flea count as two more defeats," Frog pointed out. "They may be Magus's generals, but they are still Mystic enemies."

"Even better," Edward remarked. "That brings it down to 33! We're two-thirds of the way there! Just those ones, Ozzie, and Magus left!"

Alexander took all this in passively, but he was mainly staring at his hand sadly. The MP Buster that the fake Flea had used on him had drained every last drop of his Lightning magic. While his Kingdom Hearts magics would have charged back up by now, his Chrono Trigger techniques couldn't be used for a while. That would make this last stretch interesting, considering they had run out of Ethers.

Crono suddenly pointed toward the first landing of the entrance hall. The save point was there again. Alphonse was the first one to make a remark. "Is this another fake save point, Alex? You said that we aren't supposed to see normal ones..."

Alexander walked toward the save point and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. This one has appeared now that we've cleared out the enemies in this area. Once we touch this one..." He touched the crystal, and a ringing sound echoed throughout the chamber. "...it'll take us to the path to Magus." The party's vision went dark as the fake save point transported them deeper into Magus's Lair.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	16. Battle With Magus

Chapter 16  
Battle With Magus

The party reappeared in the back of another long hallway, with no other exit behind them besides a fake save point, which was glowing white rather than the usual eerie green. They walked along the red carpet path that took a step up every few feet through the hall.

Two Hench creatures were waiting for them ahead. The fighters all took on fighting stances as the Mystic enemies approached them. Frog immediately charged in with the Masamune and brought it straight down on one of the Henches, then sliced back up for a critical hit. Lucca then fired a shot at that Hench, laying the blow that finally defeated it.

Alexander raised the Heartless Seal Lockshield into the air. "_Magnega_!" A dark orb of magnetic energy appeared in the air, sucking the other Hench into it and damaging it severely with the Kingdom Hearts equivalent of Shadow magic. Alex then jumped up and sliced the Hench a few times with his Lockshield. The Mystic was enveloped in red light as it disappeared.

"That's sixty-nine enemies defeated," Lucca announced, holstering her gun. "That leaves only thirty-one!" The rest of the party was equally pleased by this news. Magus's general, Ozzie, had informed them that there were exactly 100 beasts to defeat before they could take on Magus. At this rate, it wouldn't be too long before they reached their objective.

Alex kept his Lockshield out, though. His gut was telling him that there were more monsters on the way. "Let's keep moving as quickly as possible!" he advised. "This hall will be full of Mystics for us to defeat!"

The party ran between a couple of dragon statues, and ended up encountering another pair of Henches. However, a couple of blue gargoyle creatures (called Grimalkins) jumped out from behind the statues and took stances behind them.

Crono jumped into the middle of the circle of enemies, and thrust his hands into the air. Golden energy encircled his body, and waves of electricity suddenly spread out around him, rotating around him and shocking the Mystics. Crono's Lightning 2 spell easily destroyed all of the monsters.

"Twenty-seven!" Alphonse cried out as they rushed forward again, passing a couple more statues. Yet another pair of Henches were waiting for them, and two Sorcerer creatures appeared behind them. The two Sorcerer's took positions right next to the Henches.

Edward looked toward one of the statues, and got an idea. He ran over to the statue, clapped his hands, and transmuted the statue into a large machine gun turret, which he immediately manned. Grinning like a maniac, he started to fire the gun and pumped the Mystics full of lead, as it were. Considering the weapon was a stranger to this world, it was no surprise that the enemies fell before the ballistic onslaught. Edward quickly jumped down from the turret and said, "Twenty-three!"

They moved on to the next square of statues, where they were confronted by the usual pair of Henches, along with a couple of Grimalkins... **and** two Sorcerers! They were completely surrounded!

Alexander got an idea. "Crono!" The protagonist nodded and ran over to him as Alex quickly explained his idea. They locked arms and started spinning around in a circle with their blades out. "_Dual Cyclone_!" Alex yelled as their combination attack started to weave all over the place, slashing at all of the enemies as they revolved around. At one point, it almost seemed like they were creating a cyclone.

Finally, the attack ended, and Crono and Alexander were thrown apart by their momentum. All six of the enemies faded away into red light. The two boys got up shakily, but smiling. "Seventeen," Alex declared.

The party moved on, and finally came to the end of the hallway. Ozzie was there, standing in front of the stairs leading onward. He didn't look pleased at all. "I grow tired of this!" He looked to his sides. "Slash!! Flea!"

Frog unsheathed the Masamune menacingly, grinning. "Sorry, Ozzie, but they can't help you now..."

Ozzie turned to Frog in a rage. "You fly-eating, tongue-flicking...!" he began, but he didn't have the strength to carry out his insult. When he saw all six fighters ready to fight, he paled and stuttered, "Oz... Ozzie's in... a jam!" With that, he quickly floated up the stairs in retreat.

"Thou can'st not run!" Frog asserted, sheathing his sword and running after Ozzie. The rest of the party subsequently went into pursuit.

They ran into the next room, where they were confronted by the sight of a conveyor belt... moving toward a large blade hanging over it, slowly rising up and then being lowered down onto the belt. Still, it was slow enough that the whole party could pass it on one of its rises before it came back down again. As they turned the corner and found another belt, they heard Ozzie's voice mutter, "Welcome...!"

They passed a couple more conveyor belts of this kind, and finally turned the corner where they saw Ozzie turning a large pulley on the balcony above. At the sight of them, Ozzie paled a little bit. But he tried to force out an evil grin nonetheless. "Mwaha... How's this?" He started turning the pulley faster, forcing the conveyor belts and chains to move faster than before. It looked like Ozzie was sweating profusely now.

The belts were moving at a running speed, so it was slightly more difficult to avoid the blades. But they made it through another one without injury, and dashed through one of the belts that had two blades over them. Before they knew it, they were right next to the stairs leading to the balcony Ozzie was on.

Ozzie stopped turning the pulley, looking exhausted to say the least. "Urghhhhhh..." he groaned. He then noticed the party just nearby him, unscathed. "_What the_...!? Impossible...!" He floated up the stairs to the next area, and the party gave chase.

Edward almost lost his balance as they left the stairs. "Woah...!" He had almost fallen all the way down the center tower. They were on a path on the side of the castle, with stairs leading to the higher level. There were a few Vamps flying around, but they didn't attack immediately at the sight of the party. Alex started to lead the way up the first flight of narrow stairs, only to see a green Poly creature rolling down toward them.

The Poly stopped near them, and let out a cry of surprise. Three of the nearby Vamps surrounded the party, along with a strange floating yellow creature (an exact twin to the one that had posed as Flea in the beginning, they noticed). Alexander gasped as he remembered what it was called. "That yellow creature is called a Juggler!"

Everyone thought back to the dead soldier's blood note back in the magic cave: _"The Juggler in Magus's castle... strengthens his guard when attacked. Beware!"_

Lucca nodded, taking hold of her gun. "So we don't use physical attacks, right?"

Alex started to nod, but he suddenly stopped and shook his head. "No, it's more complicated than that. If it's attacked with physical attacks, it'll be resistant to those attacks. If it's attacked with magic first, it'll be resistant to magic after the fact. So we have to alternate types."

Edward whacked the Poly away with a spin kick, launching it off the side of the path and sending it tumbling down the tower. Lucca took a shot at the Juggler, which took the hit and suddenly cowered away. Its physical defense was on. Frog then cast a Water spell on the Juggler, which had not been expecting the magic attack with its one-track mind. It soon faded away in red light.

Alex looked back at the Vamps, which were clustered together in a row. He grinned and raised his Lockshield to the air, shouting, "_Thundaga_!" A bolt of lightning shocked one of the Vamps, and the shockwave damaged the others. With it being a higher level spell, it was enough to defeat the weak monsters.

Frog sheathed the Masamune. "Twelve!" They started running up the path again, climbing a couple more flights of stairs before they encountered another Poly rolling toward them. The Poly stopped when it noticed the party, and another Juggler joined the fray.

Lucca summoned up some magical energy and cried out, "_Fire 2_!" She conjured up a fireball that entered the ground, creating a shockwave of red energy that left fiery explosions in its wake. The explosions impacted the Poly and the Juggler several times over. The Poly faded away, but the Juggler remained and turned on its magic resistance.

"_Strike Raid_!" Alex launched his Lockshield at the Juggler, whacking it in midair and breaking past its defenses. After this strike, the Juggler finally faded away, and Alex grinned. **_Ten left,_** Joumae announced for him. They climbed a few more stairs, and finally found an entrance back into the tower.

They came to a small, empty room. It appeared to turn left a full 180 degrees, but that was the only thing worth noting. However, Alexander immediately recognized it. After all, how could you forget an area that caused you so much trouble?

Crono took a step forward, but Alex held out an arm to restrain him. Before anyone could ask, he held up a finger to his mouth to indicate a need for silence. He then gestured to the wall to their left. "_Ozzie_," he whispered. Pointing at the floor, he said, "_He's got a few trapdoors across the floor in this room. If we step on one, we'll fall through the floor and have to climb back up here._"

Edward grinned. "_That's easily resolved_." He clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. The whole floor shone bright blue for a moment. When the light dissipated, the floor had been completely covered by plates of steel, overlapping the dark stone.

There was a cry of "What the...!?" on the other side of the wall. The party walked along the new floor without any trouble, soon rounding the corner and facing Ozzie, who glared at them. "Urghhhhhh..." he groaned again, weary of running by now. "Impossible...!" He floated up the stairs to the next room.

Actually, the next room turned out to be another passage outside of the castle tower. They moved on, and found a strange bird-like samurai creature (called an Outlaw), followed by a black Poly (called a Poly Bomber) rolling down the hill. As the Mystics encountered the party, a Juggler from above came down to join the fight.

Immediately, the Juggler threw a fireball... onto the Poly Bomber! Alexander panicked. "Back up! Back up!" he cried out as the fire overtook the Poly Bomber. The whole party did as they were told as the creature subsequently exploded in a large, fiery inferno. It would've struck the entire party had they been standing where they were. Fortunately, the explosion also sent the Outlaw over the edge of the path.

Alphonse cast a Water spell onto the Juggler, which defeated it. Alex grinned upon seeing the quick resolution. Apparently, the Juggler had a Fire alignment, so the Water type spell would do extra damage to it.

The party climbed up the stairs, and encountered another single Outlaw enemy. Edward growled and rushed toward it, slamming his metal fist into the Outlaw's chest. The force of the impact sent it careening off the edge of the path, but not before it was able to throw a shuriken into Edward.

Edward winced and fell to one knee as the shuriken hit its mark at Edward's left shoulder. The alchemist was quick to pull the weapon out, but the wound was still there. Alphonse cast a Heal spell over the party in response, and Edward was soon on his feet again.

The party ran forward on the path some more, and ran into two Poly Bombers and an Outlaw. Since the fighters now knew that the Poly Bombers exploded upon defeat, they were determined to take them out at range. Frog lifted his hands into the air and cast a Water 2 spell. A huge wave of magical water crashed through the area, slamming into the Poly Bombers and the Outlaw. The Poly Bombers exploded away from the party, hitting the Outlaw with their explosions as well.

"Man, we've been pretty lucky in this area, haven't we?" Alex remarked, surprised that these battles were turning out well.

Edward sighed. "Don't jinx it for us, Alex."

They ran up the stairs, and came upon a last pair of creatures. An Outlaw and another Poly Bomber. With almost a grin, the Outlaw slashed the Poly Bomber with its sword and kicked it down the stairs. The Poly glowed red as it prepared to explode, and the party panicked. There was no time to run. Alex, at the head of the party, quickly shouted, "_Reflega_!"

A spherical barrier of light surrounded Alexander just as the Poly Bomber exploded. The explosion didn't get past the barrier, so none of the fighters were injured in the blast. When the smoke cleared, the Reflega spell shot back the damage at the Outlaw, destroying it easily with one blast.

Lucca nodded at the outcome. "That's eight more, so... only two left?" Alex nodded as he led them up the last flight of stairs, and into the passage leading back into the castle. They entered a large hallway with holes at the sides, and pulleys hanging chains down into the holes. The party now stood in the middle of four such contraptions.

Suddenly, the chains began to move, and two Outlaws were brought up on the two chains in front of them. Behind them, two blue ogre creatures (called Groupies) were lifted into the room. Edward was surprised, to say the least. "What the...!? I thought there were only two left!"

Alexander scowled. "We must've messed up on our count somehow!" He lifted the Lockshield into the air and yelled, "_Magnega_!" again. An orb of magnetic energy appeared and sucked in all of the enemies. Crono cast a Lightning spell into the Magnega spell, which absorbed the electrical energy and extended the effect to all four creatures, defeating them.

The party moved on, and ran into the middle of four more lifts, which brought up two Outlaws and two Jugglers. Edward cast a quick Fire 2 spell to send the Outlaws packing and to weaken the Jugglers. Then Frog and Alphonse took out the Jugglers with regular attacks.

They moved forward, where they finally found Ozzie himself working the pulley that moved the lifts. In the last set of lifts, they were confronted by no less than _four_ Jugglers! Alphonse quickly shouted, "_Water 2_!" and summoned a wave of water crashing through the Jugglers. The Jugglers, being of the Fire alignment, quickly fell under the power of mass Water magic.

"**Impossible**!!" Ozzie insisted in a panic. He continued to turn the pulley, but no monsters appeared to support him. "Urghhhhhh... Grr... This takes the cake!" He ran away yet again.

Before they went into pursuit, Edward quickly voiced the question, "So what was wrong with our monster count? We're way over 100 now! What happened!?"

Alexander thought about it for a little while. In fact, he'd suspected this for a while, but he'd never really voiced the thought. He sighed and muttered, "Remember those teams of monsters we had to fight again after defeating Slash and Flea in the first section? Well... I think those might have been superfluous. We defeated... twenty-five more enemies than we should have."

Lucca did the math. "We had thought we were at 98... we defeated 12 more... minus 25... is actually 85. We have fifteen to go." She scowled. "Darn it."

They ran up the stairs into the next corridor. They passed a couple of dragon statues, and a couple of Outlaws jumped out from behind them. Edward's anger went up another notch! "Auugh! That's it! I've had enough of these things!!!" He clapped his hands and transmuted a giant hammer out of the ground.

Needless to say, the rest of the fighters got the heck out of his way.

Edward charged forward and swung the giant hammer, slamming through the Outlaws defensive stances. He then brought the hammer up and sent it crashing down onto the two stunned Mystics, defeating them with the attack's sheer momentum alone.

"Thirteen!!" Edward roared as he charged down the hallway, brandishing his giant hammer.

Alphonse sighed. "I hate it when he gets like this..."

_**Well, who knows?**_ Joumae mused. **_At this rate, that boy just might clear out this whole hallway for us!_** ...What was unusual about this remark was that Alex partially agreed.

Edward passed the next pair of statues, and he was confronted by two Outlaws and a Juggler. He transmuted the hammer into a large ax and spun around with it, nearly cutting the Outlaws in half and slicing through the Juggler, which now had its physical defense up. He quickly cast a Fire spell at it, defeating it through its lessened magic resistance.

"Hey, don't leave us too far behind!" Alex yelled as the rest of the party began to catch up. They all continued on past the next set of statues, the act causing two Outlaws, a Juggler, and two red ogre creatures wielding crossbows (called Flunkies) appeared.

"_Fire 2_!" Lucca cried out, creating a wave of explosions that decimated most of the enemies. The Flunky creatures were resistant to physical attacks but especially weak to magic, so they were taken out easily. The Outlaws also fell under the Fire magic. The Juggler was also badly beaten, but it quickly put up its magic resistance. Alex rushed toward the Juggler and brought it down with one strong downward slash with his Lockshield.

"That's five left, if we're right this time!" Alexander exclaimed, rushing forward and running up the stairs into the next room, with the rest of the party close behind.

The party came into a particularly large throne room, with four pulley systems placed aside the red carpet leading to the large throne. Ozzie was standing there, looking incredibly irked by the party's presence. "Urghhhhhh..."

Frog sighed, relieved that Ozzie had finally hit the end of the road. "Thy time hath cometh, Ozzie." He drew out the Masamune, signaling the others to take fighting stances as well.

Ozzie forced a weak grin. "Harharhar... I'm sure Sir Magus has already called for reinforcements...! Wait until Lavos arrives!!" His grin suddenly became genuine. "I shan't be defeated! No form of attack will break **my** barrier!" A blue aura filled up the whole room, and Ozzie was suddenly encased in a solid, bright blue block of crystal.

Frog rushed in to attack, but the Masamune glanced off the barrier. Crono summoned up a Lightning spell, but the lightning bolt that struck down on Ozzie impacted the barrier and dissipated.

"What are you aiming at, you fools!?" Ozzie's voice came from inside the barrier. An explosion suddenly occurred in the middle of the party, damaging all of them.

Alex looked at one of the pulleys, and suddenly struck it with the Lockshield. The pulley's chain started to rise as the handle rotated. "Hahahahahaha!!" Ozzie cackled, oblivious to Alex's tactics. There was a slight rumbling through the floor, and a few trapdoors opened up in the floor..

"Get all of those!" Alex ordered. Getting his idea, Crono, Frog, and Edward attacked the other three pulleys, forcing those to start moving as well.

"Where are you aiming!?" Ozzie teased. "Gwaha... Mweeheehee..."

The floor rumbled some more, and trapdoors appeared behind them in the hall. One of them appeared right in the middle of the party's formation! Suddenly, a larger rumbling shook the room. "Eh!?" Ozzie mumbled. A large trapdoor appeared below the block Ozzie was encased in, and he fell into the hole with a cry. A faint thumping sound echoed back up the shaft.

Lucca shook her head. "That guy was totally bent..."

A fake save crystal appeared to the left of the hole Ozzie had fallen through. Frog sheathed the Masamune and ran toward the fake crystal. "We must hurry to Magus's place!" He touched the floating crystals, and the party saw nothing once more.

* * *

The party reappeared at the top of a large stairway on the outside of the castle tower. As the party ran down the stairs, Vamp creatures appeared from the wall and chased them. However, they were able to get to the passage leading inside before the Vamps could attack.

Edward looked back as they entered the dark room. "That was six more enemies... And we had been at ninety-five..." He shook his head. "100 beasts in the castle, my ass!"

"Nuega, ziena, zieber, zom..." a voice came from the back of the darkened room. The echoing indicated that the room they were in was rather large. Frog unsheathed the Masamune with a serious expression on his face. He took a step forward, and a pair of blue flames flickered into life on either side of him. As they walked forward, more flames appeared, lighting their wide path forward.

"Now the chosen time has come..." the voice continued as the party continued. Alexander summoned the Heartless Seal Lockshield in preparation. "Exchange this world for...!"

As the last remark was made, the party came to a stop. The flames flickered on ahead of them until they had made a full circle at the end of the path. The light finally was enough to fill up the room, and they saw what was before them. There was a man standing a few yards ahead, in the middle of what appeared to be a magic circle. The man had his back to them, and his arms were thrust forth from his sides, his blue cape blowing behind him.

Frog scowled. "Magus!!" he declared as the others took on fighting stances.

Magus seemed to be startled. "I...It's that stupid frog! Kissed any princesses lately!?" he jested, still keeping his back to the party.

Frog smirked. "I rather enjoy this form. And I oweth it all to you!" He brandished the Masamune and added, "I have something for you!"

Magus didn't turn, but he seemed to feel the spiritual energy emanating from the sword. "Ah...!" Magus gasped. "The Masamune!!! I bet you're just _dying_ to use it!" He paused for a moment, and some strange incorporeal wind blew his cape even harder. "The Black Wind begins to blow... Okay... give me your best shot..." He turned toward the party and held his cape up to his face. "If you're prepared for the void!"

Magus warped to the back of the room and adjusted one of his brown gloves. He was a man with long, silver hair, pale skin, and long elf-like ears. He wore golden chest armor, along with a blue cape, purple slacks, and brown boots.

Alexander brandished the Lockshield. "Give _us_ your best shot, Magus!!"

The wizard smirked. "If you insist!" He charged in, conjuring a large scythe out of nowhere. Alex barely was able to block the first strike from the blade, and Magus was quick to shove the shield out of the way and slash Alexander before he jumped back.

Frog charged in toward Magus and slashed at him with the Masamune. As the blade struck Magus, it seemed to suck away some of the magical aura surrounding him.

Alex flipped onto his feet, and grinned. "That's right! The Masamune's attacks lower his magic resistance!" he shouted out for everyone to hear.

The boy didn't notice as Magus shot Alexander a confused glance. It was subtle, but his expression seemed to say, _He knows?_

"Alright!" Edward exclaimed. "_Fire_!" He summoned up a fireball and threw it at Magus. However, the fireball simply seemed to be absorbed into Magus as it made contact.

Magus scowled, and summoned up some of his own magical energy. A wave of freezing air blasted through the room, stunning the party. Then, two _gigantic_ blocks of ice crashed into the party.

Alexander stood a little shakily after the fact, but managed to choke out, "That was Ice 2! He has a magical barrier that allows only one type in at a time! Whatever he throws at us during a barrier change, that's what we need to use! Water magic, in this case!"

This time, Magus was not so subtle about taking notice of Alexander's inexplicable amount of knowledge. _**Uh-oh... Alex, I think Magus's noticing your advice here...**_ Joumae noted, and Alex took a hesitant glance toward Magus.

...who was charging in at him again. Alex barely had enough strength to move, but he raised his Lockshield into the air and yelled, "_Curaga_!" A green aura filled up nearly the entire room, and healed all of the fighters in the party. And there was the added bonus of not being damaged during the healing process, thanks to the Kingdom Hearts "Leaf Bracer" ability. So Magus's attack went right through him.

Alexander parried the scythe with the Heartless Seal and kicked Magus in the gut, sending the wizard staggering back. Alex then jumped forward and brought the face of the shield down on Magus's head, then back up in an uppercut slash.

Magus recovered in midair and brought his scythe across Alex's chest, throwing him back. Edward then rushed toward Magus, who launched another attack against him. Edward, however, blocked the attack with his right arm. The wizard's eyes went wide at the metal _cling_ of the impact. "Metal limbs...?" he muttered.

Alphonse came up behind Magus for a sneak attack. However, Magus noticed the suit of armor coming up behind him and spun around with his scythe, knocking Alphonse's helmet cleanly off. However, Alphonse continued with his attack and punched Magus a couple of times in the chest, then finished with a sweeping kick at Magus's legs. Magus jumped out of the way, but ended up facing Edward with his armblade. He took a few slashes there, and finally jumped back to his original position in the back of the room.

Magus stared at them as Alphonse picked up his helmet and returned it to its place. "Hmm... A boy with metal limbs? An empty, mobile suit of armor? A kid who knows my tactics in advance... And all of you can utilize magic?" He adjusted one of his gloves passively. "I guess I didn't take you all seriously enough at first..."

"_Water_!" Frog exclaimed, sending a bubble of water toward Magus. Upon impact, the bubble burst and struck Magus with Water magic damage. Magus glared at Frog, but ended up taking another slash from the Masamune that weakened his magic resistance further.

Magus's rage went up another notch. "Enough of this nonsense!" He glanced at Alexander, and added menacingly, "You think you know the way around my magical barrier, huh? Then how about _this_!" He poised his hands, and orbs of shadow appeared around his body. "_Dark Mist_!"

The orbs of darkness disappeared. The room went bright for a moment, and a dark blue cloud of mist rushed through the room, passing through all of the party members. When the light faded, the entire party was suddenly stricken with immense pain. There had been something in that mist that was damaging them intensely.

Lucca, Crono, and Alphonse fell down to the ground, knocked out. Frog, Edward, and Alexander were left with little health remaining. Alex groaned weakly, and Joumae couldn't help but say, _**You **_**had**_** to open your mouth, didn't you?**_

_You're not helping!!_ Alex complained internally. Magus smirked, and closed in on the three remaining members. He took out his scythe and struck Edward, sending him to the floor. Edward didn't get up.

Magus stepped back and looked at Frog and Alexander. "Is that the best you can do?"

Alexander scowled in response. Dark Mist was a Shadow-type spell. That was hardly surprising; Magus specialized in Shadow magic, after all. But if Magus had really improvised and implemented this attack into his magical barrier, that meant that only Shadow magic would damage him at all. And they had only one Shadow attack in the entire party. Unfortunately, the magic for that was still charging.

Magus sighed. "I'm still somewhat impressed, though. You've certainly given me a run for my money." He brandished his scythe, and grinned menacingly. "But enough talk. Prepare for the void!"

_Wait for it... Wait for it..._ Alex thought as Magus charged. A few tense moments passed, and he felt his strength slightly return. His magic was back! "_Magnega_!!"

An orb of magnetic energy appeared behind Magus, and the advance halted. Slowly, he was dragged back toward the sphere, though he fought it with all of his might. Frog used what was left of his strength to hurl the Masamune at Magus, catching the wizard straight in the chest. Magus was thrown back into the magnetic sphere, where the energy did the type of damage Alex had been hoping for. Frog then rushed in, pulled the Masamune away from Magus, and slashed downward onto him just as the Magnega spell dissipated. Magus stood in the back of the room and fell to one knee, severely weakened now.

Alex raised his Lockshield into the air. "C-_Curaga_..." A green aura enveloped all of the allied fighters, and the rest of the party slowly got back onto their feet.

The flames surrounding the path around them flickered out. Magus gasped for breath, muttering, "W...what have you done to the Masamune...?"

Suddenly, the space behind Magus began to warp. This caught everyone off guard. "What's happening!?" Lucca exclaimed.

Frog took a step back. "Could it be... Lavos?" he mumbled.

Magus quickly got back onto his feet, and swept his cape aside as he turned to the increasingly warped space. "Bad timing...!" he groaned. "Don't wake up on me now...!"

The floor started to rumble under their feet. "What do you mean!?" Edward demanded. "Didn't you **create** him!?"

"You fools!" Magus retorted. "I only 'summoned' them! They live in the inner earth, absorbing the lands power and growing ever stronger!"

"Them?" Alexander repeated in confusion. Then it struck him. "You mean...!? You know about...!!"

"So, he wasn't born in this period..." Lucca concluded, confused by these events.

The rumbling got even worse. "What's going on!?" Alphonse asked worriedly, struggling to maintain his balance like the rest of them.

Suddenly, Lucca recognized the shape of the warping space. "A G-Gate!? It's huge...!"

Magus snarled in realization. "_You_! If you hadn't shown up...!"

"We're being drawn in!" Edward cried out suddenly. And it was true. The huge Gate that was forming around them was starting to create a huge gravity.

"Whoa!!" Frog wailed as he was nearly pulled off his feet. Suddenly, the space around them seemed to start spinning, and the whole party along with Magus was thrown up into the air. A giant blue portal expanded beneath them, making a sickly warped sound as it grew larger and larger.

At long last, the portal closed up, and the space in the chamber returned to its normal state. But Magus, Crono, Frog, Lucca, Alphonse, Edward, and Alexander were nowhere to be seen...

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	17. Anniversary Special

_**The Interference  
**_**1****st Anniversary Special**

That's right, folks. This is Newbie-Spud here again. Under normal circumstances, this would've been merely a Halfway Special, like the one I'd placed into the first story. However, I noticed that this day would be July 19.

July 19, 2006 is the exact date at which the first chapters of The Interference were published. It has been one long year since the series first started. And at that point, you could hardly call it a series! But look at where it is now. Absolutely amazing.

So, without further ado, here are some of my thoughts regarding the story over the last year.

* * *

_One Year, Indeed_

It's at times like these that you start thinking about the beginning. It's funny, really. I can hardly remember what prompted me to start writing my own fan fiction. Especially considering that I had once regarded most fan fiction as cheesy, pointless, and more or less a waste of time. But my view apparently changed at one point, and here I am.

Still, at times it's difficult to believe that I've had this project going for over a year now. A whole year! Not to mention that it's a _writing_ project. This is not something that the normal teenager finds himself doing after a year. I'm impressed with myself.

And look at how this series has grown! It's in the middle of its third installment, I've gotten a few pieces of fan art, and I even have my own forum for it! And my writing skills have most definitely improved over this year. Mediocre popularity was what I might have expected, but not this!

I'm also glad to see my story have nearly infinite potential for the future. With the storyline I have set up, I can go just about anywhere I want with it! All I require is a game universe that's plausible and deep enough for me to write a story in it. That makes it pretty exciting to brainstorm ideas for future stories.

Besides that, it's also positively heartwarming that I have a loyal readership. It means to me as a writer that my work's being recognized and looked forward to. Believe me, positive reviews in plentiful quantities can really speed up an update.

* * *

_The Interference: Legends_

My own forum? Why, yes indeed. My story-writing origins had come from Proboards roleplaying sites. Namely, the Kingdom Hearts Roleplay Forum, or the KHRPF. That is where I developed the idea of the Lockshield, which is honestly the only concept I've carried with me all these years. Near the end of the first story, I had decided that this universe I had created was good enough to go back to my roots in.

Thus, the Proboards site, "The Interference: Legends" was born. I became the head administrator, and did my best to help it become what it is today. I'm often surprised by the people I interact with there, and am equally impressed by how much they've helped me understand this concept I've created.

And now the member count has reached at least 50 members. That's quite a lot, as far as I'm concerned. In fact, I had feared in the beginning that it would die away like some of the other forums that I'd been a part of.

For those of my readers who aren't part of the forum, it's basically a place where you can create a character that you roleplay in the various universes of the story. Basically, the worlds of Kingdom Hearts II, Fullmetal Alchemist 2, and Chrono Trigger. You can register any kind of character you want, whether it be made up or a canon character from any game universe. It's also a general community area, with just basic chatting areas, a place for suggestions and questions, and even places to advertise your own site, fan fiction, or fan art! There's also a board where you can discuss the stories in any way you want.

Alright, I'd better lay off before this becomes an advertisement fest. There's a link on my profile page if anyone's interested.

* * *

_From Platformer to 16-Bit_

I'll be the first to admit that going from Kingdom Hearts to Fullmetal Alchemist to Chrono Trigger is a strange crossover sequence. The only thing connecting these genres is the fact that they're all video games (though FMA is a stretch). But Chrono Trigger is the most challenging of them. After all, I am dealing with an old, 2D RPG here. It's not like I have full-motion cutscenes to easily judge what the characters are doing. Those simple sprites don't make much for writing material at all.

Of course, that's what's been good for me. Since detail is not in great abundance in the game itself, I have to improvise. It's challenged my ability to provide detail in my story, and that's made it better overall.

And it's darn straight that I should work on my attention to detail. After all, I'm bringing fans of Kingdom Hearts and Fullmetal Alchemist into the world of an old Super Nintendo game. While some of my readers have played the game, most probably haven't. So I have to compensate for them, and hopefully enrich the experience for old players as well.

* * *

_An Anniversary Contest_

Well, with all of that out of the way, we can get onto the main event.

One of my biggest blocks in the way of writing has been my excitement toward future stories. I have so many ideas for what I can do in the future beyond this story... that I often get too caught up in that to focus on the present writing. That's what causes some stalls between updates.

But there's still a few ideas missing. Namely, what Alexander's outfit is going to be in the next story. That's right, Alex is going to have a change of wardrobe in the next coming story. The problem is, I can't decide what it's going to be. But I'm sure that there are at least a few more creative minds among my readership.

Here's the deal. I need a good artist to design the new outfit for Alexander in the upcoming story. I'm not going to commission anyone, but I'll instead have a contest for any interested artists out there. What I'll want is a full body picture of the new Alexander in his new costume, whatever you happen to design. The costume will be completely up to you.

Any art medium is okay, but this does require that you'll be able to put the image online (like on an image hosting site like ImageShack) and get the link to me. You can send me a Fanfiction PM, or you can post it as a guest on "The Interference: Legends." There'll be an official thread there, which will be linked to on my profile page.

The entries will be due a month from now, August 19th. So you can take your time. At that point, the images will be put onto "The Interference: Legends," as well as onto my profile page, for voting. It will ultimately be my decision as to who wins, but the voting will influence my decision toward the more popular ones. Entries can still be submitted after August 19th, but keep in mind that people would have started casting votes by then.

At the end of writing this story (or perhaps sooner), I will announce the winning design, which will become Alexander's official outfit for The Interference IV. A good design will beat art quality any day, so don't be shy about trying it out. I'll take just about any ideas on this.

So, without further ado, let's wrap this anniversary special up and get on with this new year of The Interference. It's been a good year so far, and I look forward to spending another couple of them on this project. Thanks to those that have been reading all of this time, and here's a shout to new readers that might come along later on. See ya!


	18. The Darkness Spreads

Chapter 17  
The Darkness Spreads

Alexander groaned something incoherent. The first thing that came to his mind was that he was lying down. His face was pressed up against something. Something flat and cold. He rolled over, groaning in the process, and heard an echo-y _thunk_ as his other boot struck the solid surface beneath him.

_Wait a minute..._ he thought, slowly opening his eyes. He saw almost nothing but blackness as he stared at what was above him. But there was a strange white glow around his sight. Alex propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. He was at the Station of Awakening.

He rolled his eyes wearily. _This_ couldn't be anything good.

Alex finally got onto his feet, his head somewhat clearer now. He took a renewed glance at his surroundings, but saw nothing besides the platform's bright glass design beneath him. That was strange. Every time he'd ended up here, something really important happened. So what was happening now?

Actually, what had happened before? Alex quickly fought away his grogginess and finally recalled the fight with Magus, along with the strange Gate that had appeared. _I must have lost consciousness after all that warping,_ he reasoned silently. _That probably put me under so far as to put me here. With my luck, this is a dream and I'll wake up... wherever we'd ended up._

He was broken out of his thoughts by a strange sound. Alexander looked around alertly, but found no clue as to where the sound had come from.

Then it came again. And his clothes moved slightly as if blown by a breeze. It came again, and Alex felt the force moving against him. The sound was something like... a howl. _Yes, a howling sound,_ he thought, but he still had no clue as to what it was.

The strange force came again, and Alex felt something warm blow against his face. _A wind?_

The howling became more intense, and Alexander began to glance back and forth frantically. Suddenly, he saw movement across one side of the Station. It was a strange, smooth, gaseous thing, carried by the strange wind that was blowing with more force by the second.

Alex suddenly froze up with fear. _**Black** wind...!?_

As if to respond to that thought, the strange wind started to blow in a circle around his body. It blew faster and faster until it became a whirlwind, and the howling became almost deafening. Alexander tried shielding his face with his arms, but his limbs were pulled to his sides by the force of the wind. Pain shot through his limbs, as if the wind was trying to tear him apart from all sides.

Alex almost could've sworn he was hearing something else in the wind, besides the howling. He tried to fight the pain and listen in on what the other sound was.

_"Alex... Alex... Alex... Alex...! Alex! **Alex!!**"_

* * *

"**Alex!!**" Edward shouted at the top of his lungs, but the boy just wouldn't budge. The alchemist scowled and drew back his right arm, curling his automail hand into a fist. "That's it...!" He brought the fist across Alex's face, sending the Interference rolling with a cry of pain.

A pole impeded Alex's momentum, and he crashed to a stop. His eyes were wide open; he sure was awake now. He looked around slowly, and came to the conclusion that they were in the elder's hut in the Prehistoric era.

Alexander groaned and placed a hand on the cheek that Edward had punched. He felt liquid there, and he froze up for a second. Had Edward drawn blood with that hit? He pulled his hand back, and saw a clear liquid glistening on his fingers. No, it was _sweat_. He'd been sweating while he was sleeping, and he'd been doing so profusely. More than enough to bypass his garments' uncanny ability to check those bodily functions.

Pushing the subsequent thoughts aside, he focused on how sore his jaw was right now. "Augh..." he moaned, trying not to move his mouth too much. "I swear... if I weren't wearing these clothes, I would've lost a few teeth..."

"Huh? Why's that?" a voice asked at Alex's side.

Alex looked in that direction, and saw that it was Lucca. Looking behind her, he saw that most of the others had woken up already. Ayla was also in the hut, talking to Crono.

Alex used the pole in the center of the hut as support, and brought himself to his feet. "Well..." he said, beginning to reply to Lucca, "these garments are magical. They were given to me by Yen Sid." He would've added, 'and the three good fairies,' but he figured that would've sounded too far fetched. "They basically maintain my health and hygiene beyond most attacks in battle. No bones broken, no bleeding, no hunger, no need for showers, and no spots on my clothes. They make it so that all I have to worry about is what a normal adventure game character would have to worry about. No distractions from my body while I'm fighting."

Edward glanced at his fist. "Well, whatever. I was yelling at you for a solid minute or so, and you wouldn't wake up! Just what the heck were you dreaming about, anyway?"

Alexander thought about that for a moment. He tried his best to remember, but not much came up. Just a sense of confusion and pain. It would probably come back with time, but he was just too groggy to try recollecting right now. "Not really sure now," he admitted. "It's kinda hazy."

Ayla walked over to Alex. "Alex awake?" she asked simply. When a nod was returned, she said, "Ayla had strange dream. Went to Mystic Mountains. Everyone lie there, hurt. I carry back to hut."

Frog slowly came back to consciousness, but quickly drew his sword at a single thought. "Magus!"

Ayla just looked at Frog with a confused expression. She then looked back at Crono with a questioning eye. With a grin, she said, "Yummy frog! Ayla eat?"

Frog shuddered, keeping his sword ready. "P-Perish the thought, lass! By the way, whither the blue-haired one?"

_**He was more like silver-haired,**_ Joumae noted. Alexander suddenly perked up. That dream had been deep in his mind, so Joumae would know about it, wouldn't he? He sent him a quick question mentally, but he got no response. Perhaps he had moved out of contact, into some other part of his mind.

"Only find you there," Ayla replied to Frog, shaking her head. "Blue-hair one more tasty?"

"Now's not really the time for food, Ayla," Alphonse said hesitantly.

Frog looked downcast. "We hath lost him..."

Lucca seemed to be in deep thought. "Magus said that Lavos was born in the distant past... Of course, he was using the word 'they' often enough. What else besides Lavos was he trying to summon?"

"Elaeus," Alex suddenly said. Everyone gave him a inquisitive glance (besides Ayla, who looked in the other direction for some reason). "Lavos and Elaeus were together when we saw them in the future, right? Perhaps Elaeus had also started in the distant past, and Magus was trying to summon _him_, too."

"Lavos? Elaeus?" Ayla said forcefully. She shook her head. "Not worry now. You rest. Hurt bad." She walked out of the tent, leaving the others there on their own.

Frog sheathed his sword. "Perhaps some rest would suffice for now... Though it pains me to know that Magus hath escaped from us..."

"He's not our problem right now," Alexander mumbled, laying back down on one of the bearskin rugs. "Frog, Lucca, how about we switch you two out for Marle and Robo after some rest, huh?"

Lucca shrugged. "It's fine. I need a break from all this fighting anyway." She laid down on another rug and started to rest. Frog mumbled an affirmative as well before they all bunked down.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

True to their word, Alex created a portal to the End of Time after their rest and brought in Marle and Robo, who were immediately informed of what had transpired in their absence. "I still say it's too damn convenient," Edward muttered, but said nothing more.

They heard another sound, and turned to face Kino as he walked into the hut. "Crono, okay now?" he asked. "Ayla busy, look for Laruba village. Fight Reptites together. Destroy Reptites or we no survive."

"Kiiiiiiiiino!" a voice cried out from outside of the hut. A caveman rushed into the hut, spouting incoherent, panicked nonsense.

"What happen?" Kino asked quickly. "Quiet! Crono rest."

The caveman jumped to emphasize his point. "North wood burning!!!" At this, Kino also jumped in surprise, and ran out of the hut along with the caveman. Confused, the party walked out of the hut and mutually decided to investigate.

There was smoke coming from the north, where a giant path had been made leading into the heart of the woods. The path had been cleared by burning, that much was obvious. The party traveled through the destruction and found a small, ruined village. The Laruba ruins.

As they entered the main square, a small girl ran up to Crono and cried, "Reptites take Kino! Reptites hurt all who fight! What do now!?"

The party moved past all of the village people and came to the back of the main square, where they saw Ayla and an old man wearing what Alex noted to be a Native American-style headdress - a crown made out of colorful feathers. Obviously Laruba's elder.

The elder gestured at the destruction and paced back and forth. "Ayla... This your fault! Look at mess..." He turned violently on Ayla and started jumping up and down. "Reptites followed you! So village now burned!"

Ayla looked down sadly. "...Ayla feel bad."

The elder nodded with a 'wiser than thou' air about him. "Reptites strong! They live long time before us; they smart so we hide. But Ayla say fight together... Ayla still fight!?"

It was Ayla's turn to renew her point. "Ayla fight while alive! Win and live. Lose and die. No change rule." With a scowl, she added, "Old man breathe, but dead on inside."

_**Pretty moving speech for a lack of proper grammar, wouldn't you say?**_ Joumae muttered, then retreated again before Alex could question him. Apparently, Joumae didn't want any trouble right now. _Ironic._

"Ayla," the elder said, his tone resigned, "you strong, can make big talk. We no have power..."

Ayla shook her head vigorously. "No! Have power! We fight, gain more power! Ayla help you, but need Dactyl. Give Dactyl."

Robo looked somewhat confused. "Dactyl?" he asked in a low voice, as to not intrude upon the argument. "As in, pterodactyl?"

"Need Dactyl?" the elder repeated. The intent suddenly struck him. "Go to Tyrano lair?! That Reptite place. Dangerous! Ayla want die?"

Ayla shook her head. "Want to live, so go there! Ayla be okay. Give Dactyl!"

The elder was silent for a while, but he then sighed and nodded. "...Okay. Go to Dactyl's nest and keeper will help. Careful, Ayla!"

"Thank you, old man!" Ayla replied cheerfully before charging past the party and out of the ruins.

The elder let out another sad sigh. As the party started to leave, he shouted after them, "You! Take care Ayla."

* * *

They left the burnt woods, then Alex led the party east and then north. There, they found a small mountain path that Alex said would lead to the Dactyl nest. As they came to the start of the path, they encountered a strange, tall, winged ape-like creature that was called a Cave Ape, and two rock-creatures with eyes called Shists.

"These things still don't like lightning attacks!" Alex said as he summoned the Lightning Guard. He stood in the middle of the group and shouted, "_Lightning 2_!" Golden energy encircled his body for a moment, and waves of electrical energy stretched forth from him and rotated around, zapping all three of the creatures. They were bathed in red light, and they soon faded away to nothing.

Marle pouted. "Are we gonna get _any_ action here? Or are you and Crono gonna take all the fun?"

Edward shrugged. "Just wait until they run out of magic power, launching all of those Lightning 2s. We'll get our turn."

They continued along the narrow canyon path, and came to a dead end. Or so it seemed. There was a set of rocks jutting out from one section of the opposite wall that seemed good enough for climbing. However, before they could move toward it, two golden-skinned flying dinosaurs dove down on them. Avian Rexes.

Crono was surrounded by golden energy, and he let out a Lightning 2 of his own. Like before, the creatures faded away after being shocked by the magical energy attack. The party climbed up the makeshift ladder and doubled back along the small canyon, until they came across a large rock bridge that crossed over to the other side. However, there were several Shists lying in wait for them.

Alexander quietly moved on past the Shists, knowing that they wouldn't attack unless they made contact. He tiptoed around the creatures and motioned for the others to follow. The other party members managed to sneak around the monsters as well, and they moved on. They climbed up another rock "ladder," and walked along a path to the side.

There, they came across a clearing that had two Cave Apes patrolling around it and a Shist in front of another ladder. Alexander sighed and switched his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal. "_Thundaga_!" A bolt of lightning came down and struck the Cave Apes, zapping them both with the shockwave due to their proximity to each other. The Shist noticed this and slowly started to move in, but Crono took it out with a simple Lightning spell. All three creatures faded away into nothing, easily defeated by the lightning attacks.

There were a few mutterings from the other party members, but nothing else.

They continued on through another rock canyon, encountering the same ladder at the end before doubling back and sneaking across another bridge guarded by Shists. They climbed up another ladder and came to an empty clearing with another ladder. As they approached it, though, two Avian Rexes came down to face them.

Alex switched back to the Lightning Guard and shouted, "_Lightning_!" A large bolt of lightning crashed down on an Avian Rex, with – Alex had to admit – a considerably more decisive impact than a Thunder spell had. While Thunder made a _zap_, Lightning was a _crash_!

Moving along, Crono got the point as the first Avian Rex faded away. Golden energy rose up from his body, and another Lightning strike hit the other avian dinosaur, defeating it with the Lightning energy.

Edward made a show of yawning. "Hmm... Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about the MP use. You guys are starting to become conservative."

They climbed up the ladder and continued on, coming to an outcropping hanging over the seashore. At the top of the hill ahead, they found Ayla standing in front of a large pterodactyl. Large enough to ride on, Alex noted.

Ayla did a take when she noticed the party's approach. "Crono!!" she exclaimed, jumping a little.

Marle scowled as she stepped forward. "Don't even **think** about leaving us behind!"

"No!" Ayla argued fiercely. "Tyrano lair dangerous! Maybe all perish!"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! If it's anything like the Spire of Lebis..."  
"...or The World That Never Was..." Alex added.  
"...or Magus's castle..." Robo continued.

Edward grinned at the support he was getting. "...this Tyrano lair should be a cakewalk in comparison!"

Alphonse nodded. "Ayla, we can't let you go alone. You saved us. It's time for us to repay that debt." He glanced at the others. "Right, Alexander?" he asked.

The Interference nodded. But there was one more reason that he especially wanted to go. He looked off the small cliff and stared at a shining crimson star in the sky. There was still the hunch that Elaeus had something to do with Lavos in this time period. Alex was determined to find out what that something was.

Ayla couldn't hold back a small smile. "Ayla have strong friends!"

Marle grinned. "Ayla, let's go! Next stop, the Tyrano lair!"

Ayla looked up into the sky and let out a strange shrieking sound. Five more Dactyls flew down toward the cliff, ready to let them ride. However, Edward noticed a problem. "Six Dactyls... and seven of us?"

"I suspected as much," Robo said calmly. "Ayla makes four members from this world. Either Marle or I will have to return to the End of Time." He glanced at Marle, and said, "I sensed that Marle was eager to battle, so I shall return."

Alex nodded and opened up a portal to the End of Time, which Robo went through. The act startled the Dactyls and confused Ayla, but there were no more words about it. The party climbed onto the Dactyls and took off.

* * *

Flying an pterodactyl was an absolutely exciting experience, especially for Alexander. Just the thought was exciting enough. He was riding a _dinosaur_ through the air. And while flying was not something he was so keen on before (due to his now long gone acrophobia), he found that it was an absolutely exhilarating experience.

But it was sobering enough to know that they were flying over a lava crater toward the Tyrano lair. They flew over to the nonuniform castle and landed the Dactyls there. As Alex approached the front gates, he said, "We'll probably find more of the same stuff here. Y'know, Shists, Cave Apes, and other dinosaurs like that. So Crono and I will be leading with the lightning attacks."

He then opened the door. They were confronted with the sight of a large entrance hall, which seemed to be made mostly of dinosaur bones on the walls and ornaments, with some decently formed stone tiles as the floor. Two large bones stood as pedestals with large flames roaring in them, acting as huge torches that lit up the whole entrance hall. But Alex wasn't paying attention to that. What he _was_ paying attention to was the fact that there were two Large Bodies patrolling back and forth alternatively through the hall.

Two Large Bodies. **Heartless**.

"What the hell!?" Edward cried out, and that was enough to get the Heartless's attention. All of the party got into fighting stances and took positions in the front of the entrance hall.

"I guess you were wrong!" Marle said to Alex before loading her crossbow and firing a shot at one of the Large Bodies. The crossbow bolt simply glanced off the Heartless's front.

Alex switched his Lockshield to the Crimson Catalyst and snapped his fingers with his left hand. A spark traveled through the air and exploded behind one of the huge torches. The torch toppled over and landed right on the back of the Large Body that Marle had shot at. The Large Body squirmed as its weak point was being burned, and that was enough time for Crono to dash around it and stab his katana into the Heartless's back. The Heartless faded away, and a single heart rose into the air before disappearing.

Meanwhile, Alphonse was locked in contact with the other Large Body. The two bulky frames pushed against each other with their hands, though it seemed like the Large Body was about to win. Ayla suddenly climbed up Alphonse's back and leaped off, slamming her fists into the Heartless's face. The Large Body stumbled back, and Alphonse shoved it down. As the Heartless fell, the ground beneath it shone with blue sparks and suddenly lengthened into Stonespikes, which Edward was transmuting from a distance away. The combined forces of the Stonespikes' rise and the Large Body's fall caused the Heartless to impale itself upon the stone. The Heartless dissipated, and the party was left by themselves in the room.

Robo looked around the room curiously. "Why are Heartless here in the Prehistoric era?"

"Heart...less?" Ayla repeated in confusion.

Alphonse sighed. "Yeah, Heartless. It's a little complicated, but they're basically dark creatures that try to rip out the hearts of people." Everyone else could tell that he was dumbing it down for Ayla, but the cavewoman simply nodded in response. That explanation was good enough for her.

"But still, like Robo said," Marle said, "why are they here? We only saw them in the future before. Why here?" she repeated, glancing at Alex. Soon, all of them were looking at Alex questioningly.

The Interference frowned at the attention, but he too shared the questions that the others were giving voice to. When it came to normal game elements, he was always good to go on the explanation. However, when a change occurred without him knowing in advance, he was often left just as confused as everyone else.

But he had a vague theory this time. "Well, there's the possibility that–"

"Help!!!" a raspy voice called from the back of the room. Everyone looked and saw the two large dinosaur skulls that formed the gates to the stairs. The right one was wide open, and a purple-skinned Reptite came running out of it. Right on its heels was a Neoshadow Heartless. Ayla got into a fighting stance quickly, but the Reptite and the Heartless ran past the party like they weren't even there.

The Reptite had almost gotten through the main doorway, but the Neoshadow pounced on top of the creature, covering it in dark shadows. The Reptite squirmed as much as it could, but its efforts slowly lost their vigor. When the Reptite was almost perfectly still, the Neoshadow stuck a claw into the creature's back, and ripped out a crystalline heart. The Reptite's body faded away, and its heart floated up into the air while the Neoshadow watched patiently.

The heart suddenly became enveloped in darkness, and another Neoshadow Heartless appeared from the dark cloud. As one, the Heartless turned toward the party with new awareness.

"_Ice 2_!" Marle shouted. A wave of ice-cold air blasted through the room, leaving a deep blue aura all around them. Two gigantic blocks of ice crashed down on the Neoshadows, breaking away on impact and melting into nothing once more. The blue aura disappeared, along with the Heartless.

Alex cleared his throat to regain attention. "As I was _saying_," he spat sarcastically, as if the little interruption had insulted him somehow, "there's the... _possibility_ that the Heartless are taking over the Tyrano lair by force."

"An organized attack?" Edward remarked incredulously. "I thought Heartless were instinctual creatures. Assaults seem a fair ways above them. A long ways, really. They seem to be the kind that go after one target at a time, on their own agenda. Not efficient eradication."

"Okay, okay," Alexander muttered before Edward could elaborate further. "That's a very good point." He paused for a moment, but decided that there was no point in concealing it. "Which brings me to my next theory. I think Elaeus is leading them." He gave another pause to let this fact sink in, which was rewarded by some small gasps. "The only thing that can command Heartless without consequence is someone who is a Heartless himself, but gave his heart willingly to the darkness. Most often, those types of cases become Heartless that retain their humanity. And sometimes, even a human shape. I can definitely believe that Elaeus could organize the Heartless for this kind of raid."

He looked toward the open dinosaur skull and added, "That makes it all the more important that we get Kino and the other prisoners out of the dungeon **now**. It's down the stairs through that skull."

* * *

They ran down the stairs and entered a slightly curving hallway. Three Armored Knights were waiting down there for them. Ayla let out a snarl and drove one of the Heartless to the ground, keeping it pinned and beating it senseless. The others tried to move in to help their comrade, but Edward jumped in and parried one of the Armored Knight's sword with his automail arm. Edward then kicked it away and transmuted his metal arm into a blade, which he used to deliver the final slash. Alphonse grabbed the last one and spun around with it, using the force to slam it into a wall with enough strength to make it disappear.

The party rounded the corner and came across a makeshift prison cell. The bars were made out of sharp, overlapping bones. A few cavemen were locked inside. There was a depressible switch next to the cell door, which Crono immediately pushed. The bones spread apart, and the cavemen came running through.

But Kino wasn't among them. Glares were thrown in Alex's direction, and the boy only shrugged. "He must in another cell further down the path. Let's hurry!" he added, taking initiative to compensate for the blame.

A throng of Shadows were around the other corner, guarding the next flight of downward stairs. Alexander changed the Lockshield to the Heartless Seal and ran into the middle of the group, yelling, "_Firaga_!" A ring of fire surrounded him, and burned the Heartless plenty. He then jumped back just as the rest of the party charged in with melee attacks of their own. They were simply Shadows, and were easily taken out.

The six fighters dashed down the stairs and entered the next hallway. It turned to the left and came to a dead end. But there were three Reptites looking in on another cell. One of the Reptite guards sneered. "Thanks for bringing, er, _being_ the main course!" it teased the unknown prisoner within the cell.

Suddenly, all three Reptites looked toward the party and jumped in surprise. "It's the apes!!" one of them shouted. Then out of nowhere, two Wight Knights and a Crimson Jazz appeared between the party and the Reptites, facing the reptilian creatures. The Reptites jumped back again, this time in fear. "And the monsters!!!" another one of them added.

The Heartless and the Reptites attacked each other, and the fighters looked ready to join in. But Alex suddenly got an idea. "Wait!" he said quickly, motioning for the others to stay still. "Let them knock heads for a little while! There'll be less for _us_ in the aftermath!"

Sure enough, both sides of the brawl were taking damage. The Reptites were able to take out the Wight Knights before the Crimson Jazz's body contracted, signaling the start of a spell that created three large explosions around the Reptites, defeating them. Seeing that only one was left, Ayla leaped into the air and flipped forward, bringing the heel of her foot crashing into the Crimson Jazz's head and sending it ricocheting off the ground. While it rebounded, Marle shot a crossbow bolt at it that finished it off.

Crono pressed the button to open the cell, but it did nothing. Kino ran over to the cell's bars, shouting, "Ayla!"

"Kino get back!" Ayla warned him. "Ayla save you!" She stepped back and rammed her body into the bars a couple of times, to no avail. She pushed as hard as she could, but that got her nowhere either. Breathing heavily, she was struck with a different idea. She climbed up the bone bars and forced her way through a small opening at the top, crashing down on the other side.

Alphonse was impressed. "Wow!"

Kino ran over to the exhausted Ayla. "Sorry Ayla. All Kino's fault."

Ayla shook her head, trying her best to look fine. "No matter. Kino escape with Laruba villagers!"

"What Ayla do?" Kino asked in response, confused.

"Put end to this!" Ayla responded with incredible determination.

Kino nodded, grinning at the prospect. "Kino go too!"

Ayla shook her head again, looking serious this time. "Kino no come," she disagreed. "If Ayla dead... Kino new chief of Ioka!"

Kino was a fair bit shocked by this. He walked to the side a little bit and looked downcast. "Ayla..."

Ayla ran toward the bar doors and forced them open. Kino and the party walked toward the corner of the hallway's path. Ayla gave Kino a reassuring smile, and thrust her fist into the air. "Ayla strong. No lose!"

"Kino understand," Kino replied. His excitement returning, he added, "And show you something!" He started running toward the stairs, and the party followed suit.

Kino led them back to the main entrance hall. He walked toward the other dinosaur skull, the one that was closed, and pried it open. It led toward another set of stairs, this one leading upward. Kino nodded at the party. "You strong, me weak. Ayla good chief!" He then ran out of the castle.

_**Ah, good. Less cavemen around means more brain cells to keep,**_ Joumae muttered irritably. Alexander scowled and quickly sent a thought before Joumae could hide again. _Joumae, do you have _any_ idea what happened to me at the Station of–_

_**I don't!**_ Joumae retorted angrily, startling Alex slightly. **_I'm pissed off right now. Whatever happened to you while you were knocked out, I wasn't around for any of it._** The counterpart paused for a moment, as if to calm himself down. _**Besides, chances are it was just a dream. I don't think you should be thinking about it this much.**_

Alex felt inclined to agree, but he found that he couldn't get memory of the Black Wind's howl out of his mind. Still, there were more important matters to attend to right now.

Like getting through the Tyrano lair in one piece, for instance. And seeing if Elaeus really was involved with this time period's events after all...

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	19. Some Truths of Lavos

Chapter 18  
Some Truths of Lavos

The party climbed up the stairs to the next level. The room they entered was a somewhat wide hallway, with green limestone under their feet. At the very ends of the halls, groups of various Heartless awaited them patiently in the sections next to the doors. In this respect, the hallway was completely symmetrical, and the party's entrance point was on the line of symmetry.

Crono looked a little confused at something. He walked over to one of the corners of the limestone. There was a rather large cylindrical button sticking out of a hole. Curious, Crono stepped on the switch, which easily slid down until it was level.

A large trapdoor opened up right under that side's group of Heartless. They flustered comically for a moment before falling through the hole. A thud echoed from the bottom, and some hearts floated up through the trapdoor.

Edward grinned, and found a similar switch on the other side, which caused the exact same thing to happen to the other group of Heartless. Shaking his head, he muttered, "What idiot designs this type of construction?"

_**I think it's best we don't find out,**_ Joumae remarked. Alex nodded and said, "Let's take the door on our right. The other one's a dead end with some treasure, but I don't want to double back."

The party walked through the door, and found themselves on a small balcony outside the castle. Two Crescendos and five Minute Bombs were wandering around the balcony, and one of the Minute Bombs bumped into Ayla. In response, Ayla quickly grabbed it and hurled it over the edge of the path.

But the attention of the other enemies were already on the party. Edward clapped his hands and transmuted a gigantic sword out of the ground, which Alphonse grabbed and used to cleave through a Crescendo. The other Crescendo, in a panic, looked about to blare its song out of its horn, but Alex jumped onto it and stomped it, sending a healing aura in all directions that washed over the party members. Alex stuck the Heartless Seal in the Crescendo to finish it off, while the others got out of the way as the rest of the Minute Bombs exploded.

There was a door leading back inside on the other end of the path, and the party approached it. However, an Air Pirate Heartless started to fly in from off the balcony. Marle shot a bolt at it, which hit its mark but didn't deter the Heartless's approach. Alex hurled his Lockshield at it in a Strike Raid, which finished off the enemy.

The next room was square, dark, and empty, and the floor was just a bunch of uniform gray tiles, though there were large holes in some areas. Alexander suddenly stiffened. This room had given him a lot of trouble in the game.

Marle took a step forward, and the room suddenly went pitch black for a moment. When the dim light returned, three Lance Soldiers and a Creeper Plant had appeared in the room. The fighters took their stances, and the Lance Soldiers charged at them.

Alphonse tried to slash at one with his greatsword, but the Lance Soldier parried it and sent the blade flying out of his hands, where it clattered to the ground and eventually slid off the edge of one of the pits. Before the Heartless could take advantage, though, Edward had jumped in and given it a swift kick with his automail leg. By then, Alphonse recovered and was able to throw in a few quick punches to finish it off.

Ayla grabbed one of the Lance Soldiers, jumped up, and hurled it into the ground. The Lance Soldier crashed with little grace, and was damaged enough for Crono to have plenty of time to take it out with one well-placed slash.

Alex used a Reflega spell to block the last Lance Soldier's advance. By then, the Creeper Plant had taken its shot, and a large seed bounced off Alexander's Reflect barrier. The combined damage that bounced back to hit the Lance Soldier was enough to take it out.

Alexander looked around for a moment, and finally found a root sticking out of the ground. Grinning, he grabbed the root and tugged as hard as he could. The Creeper Plant let out a squeal as it was sucked into the ground and then violently pulled out at the point where Alex was pulling. A crossbow shot from Marle impaled the beast in midair and defeated it.

They then continued through the room carefully, making sure to not fall into the pits. They walked to the back of the room and then over to where the next staircase was, and climbed it. From there, they walked through another passage leading to an outside path.

The balcony was empty, but there was a gate in the middle that sealed the path onward. There was also an open door on the far end leading back in. As they approached the far entrance, two Air Pirates flew in to fight them. Alphonse summoned his magical energy and shouted, "_Water 2_!" The air turned a deep blue around them, and a wave of water crashed through the Air Pirates. The Heartless disappeared and a few more hearts rose up into the sky.

The room they then entered was a small room with another dinosaur skull in the back, with two switches in the limestone floor they were standing. Alphonse thoughtfully looked at the two switches on either side and said, "One of these is probably a trap."

Alexander placed his foot on the switch on the right, which slid into place. The skull in the back slowly opened up. "This one isn't the trap switch. Don't step on the other one, people, or we'll end up in another fight."

Crono ran through the skull and found a small switch on the small alcove's wall. He pressed it, and the sound of a gate opening rang through the halls. Edward nodded. "Well, three guesses as to what _that_ was."

The party doubled back to the outside path and approached the now open gate. But as they neared it, four Nightwalker Heartless appeared around them, two on each side of the gate. They became surrounded.

"Crono!" Marle shouted. Crono nodded and charged toward two of the Nightwalkers, leaping into the air. Marle summoned up her Ice magic and tossed it at Crono's katana. The Ice magic took effect just as Crono started his attack, which encased the Nightwalkers in a block of ice as Crono slashed through them. Crono then spun around in midair and sliced through the ice block, shearing it and the Heartless in half and defeating the enemies.

Alex lifted up the Heartless Seal. "_Blizzaga_!" A large sphere of ice crystals raced from his Lockshield and struck one of the Nightwalkers, which Ayla then grabbed and slammed into the ground. Edward jumped up and kicked the other Heartless toward the ground, where Alphonse intercepted it and kicked it again, sending it over the edge of the platform. Both Heartless were defeated, and they were in the clear once more.

* * *

They walked into the newly opened room. It seemed to be something of a grand hallway, but they couldn't really tell. There was a large humanoid dinosaur creature in the way. Alexander flinched at the sight of it. It was Nizbel II! An exact twin to the same Nizbel Alex had fought alone in the Reptite cave on their last visit! 

The dinosaur was busy flexing, though, and took little notice to the fighters. Ayla glared at it, and shouted, "Where Azala!?"

Nizbel kept on flexing, but it mumbled, "Azala's in the back," like one would point out directions to a main street.

Alex grinned and grabbed Ayla, shouted, "Thanks!" and ran past Nizbel. The others followed suit, getting the idea that Nizbel wasn't going to attack them yet. Perhaps they could get away before...

The ground started to rumble. The party got into a formation just in front of the upward flight of stairs in the back. Nizbel took a few steps to turn around and dashed toward the party, stopping just in front of them. "Well, well!" it remarked. "Out for a little stroll, are we?"

It looked ready to charge, but it suddenly let out a cry of pain and fell down to the ground. A group of Soldier Heartless were on Nizbel's back, and one of them had stuck its claw into the beast's body. With a little struggle, the Soldier pulled out a large shining heart, which rose up into the sky as Nizbel's body faded away.

A large darkness overtook the heart, and remained there ominously for a few tense moments. Then the darkness dissipated, and a larger Heartless dropped down to the ground behind the group of Soldiers. It then floated into the air, being one tall, violet-armored specter with clawed hands that casually swung a pendulum blade from its right hand.

Alex gasped. "It's the Grim Reaper Heartless!"

"The what!?" Edward exclaimed incredulously, already not liking the sound of what Alex was saying.

Alexander made sure his Lockshield was in the Heartless Seal design, and replied, "It's a boss Heartless I fought twice before in the world of Port Royal! Of course, without the curse to aid it, it shouldn't be too much of a problem..." It was at this point that the remaining Soldiers started to attack them.

Crono ran forward and started spinning around with his blade out in front of him, using the Cyclone technique. The Soldiers, who had been near Crono at the time, were all slashed up by the incessant strikes from the crimson-haired protagonist. As Crono recovered from the technique, Alex incanted a Magnega spell to finish off the Soldiers.

The Grim Reaper whirled around with its pendulum blade, creating a whirlwind around itself. It then disappeared and reappeared behind the remaining fighters. From there, the Grim Reaper spun around one with its blade outward, slashing away Alphonse, Marle, and Edward.

Marle recovered and started to summon some Ice magic. "Ayla!" she shouted out. Ayla nodded and prepared herself as Marle launched blue energy at her. When the energy contacted Ayla, the fighter reached down and pulled out a gigantic stalactite of ice from the ground, and launched it at the Grim Reaper. The stalactite broke into pieces when it hit the Grim Reaper, and a pillar of blue energy enveloped the Heartless to inflict more damage.

Edward growled and kicked the stunned Heartless from behind to send it back toward the middle of the room. Then Crono, who had recovered his strength, dashed forward toward the Heartless and leaped at it, slashing its midsection once. Then he suddenly warped and slashed at the Grim Reaper's back, and got its bottom and head in the same second. The Confuse technique.

"That's got his head spinning!" Alex remarked, rushing toward the Heartless. Alexander jumped up and grabbed the Grim Reaper's pendulum blade, then jumped off the Heartless and used an uppercut strike with the enemy's own weapon. While the Grim Reaper was thrown into the air, Alex landed on the ground and spun around with the large weapon. The boy then launched the spinning weapon toward the Grim Reaper, which cleaved right through it.

The Grim Reaper faded away, and a large heart rose toward the ceiling before disappearing in turn. Alphonse shook his head. "These Heartless aren't making very many exceptions, are they?"

Alex nodded. While fighting the Grim Reaper instead of Nizbel had made things simpler, it was somewhat unnerving to know that they were fighting an enemy that was in the process of eradicating their _first_ enemy. And the enemy of this enemy was _not_ their friend at all, regardless of how the saying went.

The party climbed up the stairs and walked through another gate that led them to a higher outside path. This one was quite like one before, only it was much larger. There were three entrances total, including the one they'd just exited from. The one in the middle had a closed gate, and the one on the other end had a room where they could unlock the gate, most likely.

The fighters got to the far passage with no interruption, and entered a room with three switches inside along with a closed dinosaur skull in the back. There were two switches to the sides of them, and one further forward in the narrow strip of limestone. Edward sighed. "Alright, Alex. Which order do we press _these_ in?"

Alexander walked forward to the farthest switch and depressed it. Nothing happened. "This one was probably supposed to make a save point appear," he reasoned. "Though that won't help us any." He then walked toward the switch to the left of the door, and pressed that one. Trapdoors opened up on either side of the narrow limestone strip.

Crono smiled and depressed the last button. Groups of Armored Knight Heartless dropped down from above... only to fall further into the pits, where they crashed and dissipated. The boy then ran forward and pried the dinosaur skull open, and ran to the back where he found a familiar switch on the wall. He pressed it, and the sound of the gate opening rang true.

The party returned to the outside path, and walked toward the open passage. However, three Rapid Thrusters appeared in front of the door, while four Rabid Dog Heartless appeared behind the party.

Alex rolled his eyes. They were so close to the end of this, and _these_ kinds were what faced them!? He quietly muttered, "_Magnega_." An orb of magnetic energy appeared in the middle of the group of Rapid Thrusters, destroying them almost instantly. Then Edward, Alphonse, Crono, and Marle each took out the Rabid Dogs that had been behind them.

With nothing more to face them, they entered the next room. And it appeared to be the throne room. After a somewhat long walk, they finally reached the steps leading to the throne, where Azala himself was seated. The lizard sneered at the party, looking at Ayla and Alexander particularly. "So..." he declared, "you are here at last. This is it, then. The showdown. Today there shall be a conclusion."

"Spare me the cheap bad guy lines!" Edward groaned.

"Will it be the Reptites," Azala continued, ignoring Edward save for a flicker of annoyance across his expression, "or you silly apes who will end up ruling our world?"

Ayla stepped forward determinedly. "Strong survive," she stated. "Ayla strong. Ayla fight!"

Alexander grinned. "Your little operation here is doomed, Azala. Surely you should have noticed that the Heartless are efficiently eradicating you Reptites here?"

Azala stepped down from his throne. "The Heartless, you call them? Indeed, I have noticed." At that point, a loud roaring sound came from beyond the gate in the back, and it seemed to make the floor shake. "But do you hear that lovely voice? You'll soon become the best of friends!" He then leaped up onto his throne and jumped down behind it, walking through the large double doors to the path outside.

Without another word, the party went into pursuit.

* * *

The party ran along the wide, stone bridge and came to the tower at the end of the path. Sitting inside the large tower's opening was a monstrous creature. It was a gigantic green-scaled Tyrannosaurus Rex, hunched over and chained to the tower with a huge spike collar and an impossibly thick rope. Azala was standing on its left shoulder, looking into the sky at a shining crimson star. 

"Red star..." Azala mumbled. He then waved his arms dramatically and purposefully, shouting, "**Fall!!!!!** Stain the earth... **red**!" The star seemed to shine brighter in response, and Azala jumped over to the dinosaur's other shoulder. "Though it may be our fate to perish, we will not simply hand over this world to you!"

Azala looked at the dinosaur's head and cackled, "Mwahaha! With this Black Tyrano I can finally exterminate those filthy apes, along with those 'Heartless'!" The Black Tyrano roared enthusiastically in response.

"Is that so?" a man's voice called out from above them. Everyone looked up to the top of a tower, where a black-robed man jumped down from and landed on the Black Tyrano's collar. Just about everyone save for Ayla and the Black Tyrano did a take. This was the exact same man that the party had seen in the future, in the recording of the Day of Lavos! This was Elaeus!!!

"It's you!" Azala hissed.

Elaeus seemed partially amused. "Charmed that you remember me." He walked toward Azala across the Black Tyrano's scaly neck, making the dinosaur growl in annoyance. "I have to thank you for summoning that red star," Elaeus continued, "but that's where your usefulness ends." With that being said, he suddenly spun around and launched a powerful kick into Azala's gut, sending the Reptite far over the party and sprawling much farther back on the bridge.

The Black Tyrano roared angrily, but this only seemed to distract Elaeus slightly. "Ah, I'll have to get rid of your little pet, too." He suddenly summoned a large, black broadsword with the Heartless emblem imprinted on the blade near the hilt, and rammed it into the Black Tyrano's skull. The dinosaur let out a piercing cry of pain as it was skewered easily, but Elaeus didn't seem to take notice. Elaeus pulled his sword out of the dinosaur's head, and the monster slumped down in its collar. The Heartless apprentice then slashed through the rope and jumped off the Black Tyrano, letting it fall down and slide over the edge of the bridge, where it fell into the vast canyon below.

The monster's landing was hardly heard at all as Elaeus turned toward the party of fighters. The former apprentice suddenly took a step back upon the sight of the Interference. "Alexander!" he exclaimed. "You're _already_ here!? Have I come too late in this game's storyline?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"This can't be," Elaeus muttered to himself, ignoring Alexander. "I've only _just_ arrived..." He shook his head and faced the party with a more serious attitude. "No matter. There's nothing you can do to interfere **this** time, Alexander Karsath. The red star has been summoned, and I shall reap its power soon enough."

Marle gasped. "So you _were_ involved in the events here!" he exclaimed, seeing what Alex had meant before in his theory.

"You and Lavos were connected from the beginning, just like Magus had implied," Edward added. "That explains one hell of a lot."

Elaeus seemed somewhat confused. "Hm? What are you all babbling about? Are you trying to imply that you all have had assumptions of what's supposed to happen now? And what is this 'Lavos'?"

Alexander stepped forward. "It might have struck you, Elaeus, but... this is sixty-five million years in this world's past. We've traveled through time to find Lavos, the main antagonist of this game, and destroy him to save this world's future."

Alphonse nodded. "We've also found out that you've been connected to Lavos for some time, and you've had a few mentions in this world's history. We thought it might've started here, in this time."

"Wait a minute," Elaeus interjected, staring at Edward and Alphonse. "Is that..." He suddenly laughed. "My, my, Alexander! You brought the Elric brothers to _this_ world!? I thought bringing Sora to Amestris was strange enough, but you've gone even further with the breaking of world order!"

"Anyway," Elaeus suddenly spat, starting to seem bipolar to Alex, "I don't know what this _Lavos_ is, and I don't care. That red star, as far as I've discovered, contains a power that can rip through time and open up this world's heart. That's what I'm after." He brandished his broadsword once more, and took a fighting stance. "Unfortunately, you won't live to see me wield that power. I've seen what this world can offer, and I know what skills you gained previously, Alexander. You and your friends don't stand a chance."

Alexander grinned, and switched his Lockshield to the Lightning Guard. If Elaeus really only had just appeared in this world now, he would've only seen the Prehistoric side of things. Which would mean that he knew nothing of the magics available here. "You think you've seen something!? Give it another hundred million years! _Then_ you'll have seen it all!"

The Interference charged forward toward Elaeus and slashed at him with the serrated blade of his shield. Elaeus parried the attack with his sword and sent a counterattack in Alex's direction, which the boy ducked under. He then spun around with a sweeping kick, sending the apprentice falling to his side. Both fighters quickly got back to their feet, and Elaeus got his turn to charge. He slashed at Alexander's midsection at the Lockshield, then suddenly closed in and bashed Alex on the head with the butt of his sword.

Alex fell to the ground in a daze, and Elaeus poised his sword to stab down into the boy's chest. But then a crossbow bolt zoomed into the scene and stabbed into Elaeus's shoulder. The apprentice quickly pulled the bolt out and glared at the source of the shot, Marle. By then, Alex was coming up and the apprentice got a fast kick in the chest that sent him backward.

Elaeus scowled and stabbed his sword into the ground. He then pulled out a small slip of paper from his cloak, which had a transmutation circle scribbled onto it. However, Crono jumped in and slashed at Elaeus with his katana, cutting off a corner of the parchment and forcing Elaeus to step back a bit. The apprentice tried to counterattack, but Crono backflipped out of the way and grabbed onto the hilt of Elaeus's wedged sword, using his momentum to swing back around and kick Elaeus firmly in the gut.

The Heartless apprentice groaned in pain, but managed to place the transmutation circle on the ground and activate it. Violet sparks appeared along the entire stretch of the bridge between the two sides. Starting from Elaeus, stone spikes began to rise up quickly from the stone, forcing aside all who were in its path. Crono took the first hit, being thrown to the side and barely managing not to fall over the edge. Alexander used a Reflega spell to block the spikes coming his way, but the wave of stone continued past him after it bounced off his barrier.

Seeing the spikes approaching them, Edward shouted, "Al!" at his brother, who nodded and placed his hands down palm-up. Edward jumped onto Alphonse's hands, and got a boost up into the air just as the wave of spikes collided with the rest of the party, throwing them all back. The airborne Edward, though, sailed over the now-receding spikes and came down toward Elaeus fist-first. Elaeus saw this and immediately pulled his sword out of the ground, and held it horizontally to block Edward's aerial attack. Edward's right fist clanged against Elaeus's sword, and the sound of metal striking metal resounded throughout the entire canyon.

There seemed to be a tense moment where Edward was suspended in midair, punching down toward Elaeus's sword. Then Edward pushed himself off of Elaeus and flipped over him, landing behind the apprentice. It was then that Alex's Reflega spell shot back the damage it had received in an explosion of light, which rammed into Elaeus and sent the apprentice careening backward. Edward, who had anticipated this, jumped and executed a spin kick, striking the back of Elaeus's head with his automail foot. Elaeus let out a cry as he lost his momentum and fell to the ground, and Edward rejoined the rest of the recovering party.

Elaeus groaned and used his sword as support as he stood back up. "Is that... the best you can do?" he muttered, getting back into his fighting stance. Sure, they'd done a lot of damage, but it seemed like Elaeus could fight for quite a while longer.

"Everyone!" Ayla suddenly shouted. Alex was startled; Ayla had been inactive during the fight so far. "Use magic!" she ordered, gesturing at herself wildly.

Alexander suddenly saw Ayla's idea. "Alright everyone!" he shouted. "Converge your magics on Ayla!" He and the others stood around Ayla, forming a sort of pentagon. Each one of them started to summon their magic respectively, as Elaeus watched with a part-confused, part-intrigued, part-nervous expression.

Alphonse sent a bubble of Water magic toward Ayla, which suddenly shrunk around Ayla's fist and formed a sphere around it. Marle then sent the blue sparks of Ice magic toward that point, and the sparks started to rovolve around the Water sphere. Edward sent a Fire trail at Ayla, and the fire also started to revolve around Ayla's fist. Crono and Alexander then sent Lightning strikes at Ayla, which both struck her fist and turned the sphere into a swirling, multi-colored orb of energy.

Ayla charged forward toward Elaeus, pulling her fist back for a punch. The apprentice was just plain shocked. "What** is** that magic!?" he demanded, but had no time for a reply. He brandished his sword and stabbed it in Ayla's direction, but the fighter sidestepped the attack and punched Elaeus with everything she had.

The magical energy was released explosively on contact, sending charged Water, Fire, and Lightning attacks into Elaeus like a rocket blast. The explosion of energy blocked the view as Elaeus was sent backward, but he was lying face-down on the bridge when the dust cleared. His broadsword was enveloped in darkness as it disappeared.

A groan came from behind them, and the party turned around to see Azala crawling toward them. "No... It can't be...!" he moaned weakly. "Could the heavens truly have sided with the apes? ...Listen, primates, and let it be known. We Reptites fought bravely to the bitter end!"

Ayla ran over to Azala and nodded. "Ayla understand..." she responded. After all, she had said something to that effect herself when she'd stated her reasons for resisting the Reptites.

Alphonse shook his head. "Huh... So the Reptites were fighting to survive, just like the humans were..." Suddenly, the whole area around them flashed red, and everyone looked around confused. The party walked toward the edge of the bridge and looked up toward the red star in the sky. It was much, much brighter than before, and it pulsed as the area flashed red twice more.

"Soon," Elaeus growled, drawing the party's attention to him as he weakly tried to stand, "stones of fire will rain down. Flames shall scorch the land. The burned out plains will slowly freeze, ushering in a long, cruel ice age."

Azala grinned. "Mwahaha... what a treat! You will wish you went along with us! Mwaha!" He then fell silent.

Elaeus stretched a hand forth toward the side of the bridge, and a Storm Rider Heartless appeared out of a pitch black fog. "I take my leave, Karsath," the apprentice stated, "to claim the power falling toward us even now. Farewell, and perhaps we shall meet in the distant future. By then, I'll have learned and become more powerful than all of you." Elaeus jumped onto the Storm Rider, and rode the dragon Heartless as it flew up into the sky and toward the approaching comet.

Ayla paced back toward the center of the bridge, her gaze downcast. "Lavos..."

"Pardon?" Marle mumbled.

A roar sounded out through the sky. Lavos's cry. The red star became a small sphere on the horizon, becoming almost brighter than the sun. Ayla sighed. "Ayla's word. 'La' mean fire. 'Vos' mean big..."

_**That explains quite a bit,**_ Joumae reasoned. Alex nodded to himself in agreement. That explained why Ayla had been so quick to change the subject earlier, when the party had been discussing Lavos and Elaeus. Ayla had recognized the word, and had suspected the mention to be foreshadowing.

Edward winced as the comet pulsed again, bathing the area in red light. "If we don't get outta here soon, we'll all be cooked for sure!"

"Ayla!" a voice called out from over the edge of the bridge. Everyone looked in that direction to see the group of Dactyls flying toward them.

Ayla recognized the voice. "Kino!" She ran over to Kino, who had landed the six Dactyls and dismounted. She hesitated for a moment, then turned toward the party with fierce determination. "Hurry!" she ordered. "Lavos come soon! All ride Dactyl!"

Everyone mounted onto a Dactyl, except for Kino, who was surveying the scene with vague curiosity. Ayla panicked. "Kino! Hurry!!"

Kino jumped onto Alya's Dactyl, but then Ayla jumped off and ran toward Azala. Kino panicked in turn. "Ayla! What you do!?"

"Come!" Ayla cried out. "Azala! Come!"

Azala opened his eyes and glared at her. "Absolutely not! The powers that be have spoken." He then closed his eyes again, obviously awaiting his destruction.

Edward frowned. He wasn't going to lose any sleep over the Reptite, so it was unnerving for him to wait on Ayla in this case.

"Ayla! _Hurry_!!!" Kino insisted.

Ayla jumped onto Kino's Dactyl, staring at Azala sadly. "Azala..." she mumbled as the Dactyls started to take flight, "...me not forget..."

"The future..." Azala muttered.

"Future?" Ayla echoed, brought out of her sadness for a moment. "What about future?"

"We... have no future..." Azala answered. The Dactyls started to pick up their pace, and they were soon far away from the area. Alex could've sworn he heard a strange wind howling fiercely in his ears.

The comet impacted the castle with a quick thud, and a gigantic explosion enveloped the entire plateau the lair had been sitting on.

* * *

It was quiet as the party flew back toward the canyon. There was hardly any sound at all. Only the flapping of the Dactyls' wings, the wind whistling through the empty rock valley, and the talk of the party as they speculated these new developments. 

"So!" Marle said pointedly, getting the topic rolling. "Lavos descended in _this_ era!"

Edward looked somewhat underwhelmed. "So what are we really dealing with, here? Lavos is some kind of **alien**, then?"

Alexander nodded affirmatively. "And it seems that Elaeus had rolled out the welcome mat to meet that thing. I wouldn't be surprised if Elaeus ended up trapped within the earth, just like Lavos has ended up. That would explain plenty, really." He then fell silent. The Black Wind (fir Alex was sure of that being what he was hearing) was still blowing hard here, as if to be a reminder of all the death and destruction that had taken place here.

Ayla shook her head, appalled by how large the crater was in the distance. "Lavos huge! Crono fight it?" she asked. Crono cringed at the thought, but he nodded slowly. At least, that was what they were thinking of doing. Ayla suddenly pointed at the center of the crater. "Crono! We go where Lavos fall!" Ayla landed her Dactyl and started running toward the Tyrano lair's ruins.

Alphonse nodded. "It just arrived, so there may be something we can do! Let's go see!" he exclaimed, landing his Dactyl as well and running after Ayla. The rest of the party followed suit and ran toward the edge of the crater.

As they approached the wall of rock that had been displaced in the crash, they found something really familiar. Marle gasped and ran toward the shining dark blue orb. "Th-There's a Gate!"

Ayla ran around the area, looking down at some large marks in the ground. "Lavos very fast!" she concluded. "Deep under earth already."

Marle stood in front of the Gate, gesturing at it suggestively. "This Gate was made by Lavos. Maybe Lavos is the source of all Gates?"

Ayla ran back to Crono, who was just standing there with a confused look. "What wrong, Crono?" she asked. "Fight Lavos! Go in here. Yes?"

Alexander frowned. "Not quite, but I think we need a change in party nonetheless. Ayla, Marle, you two should go back to the End of Time to rest."

"Rest?" Ayla echoed, sounding disappointed. "I want to fight!"

"Sure, but the others need the chance to fight as well," Edward pointed out. "There can only be three of your kind at a time. Alex, Alphonse, and myself stay the whole time."

Ayla thought about it for a moment, and sighed. "Okay..."

Alexander opened up a portal to the End of Time. Ayla and Marle went through the portal, and Alex called in Robo and Lucca, who waited for a moment as they were given the memories of what had transpired.

Lucca looked around with some awe. "Woah! So _this_ is how Lavos got here, huh?" She procured the Gate Key from her pocket. "Let's see where this Gate leads then, if Lavos supposedly made it."

"Will I finally be able to participate this time?" Robo asked, sounding a little downcast.

Alexander laughed out loud at the complaint. "It's fine, Robo! There aren't any more necessary party switches. You can be here for quite a while!" And with that being said, Lucca opened the Gate and led the way as they all jumped into the time warp.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	20. This Magic Kingdom

Chapter 19  
This Magic Kingdom

The first thing the fighters saw as they left the other end of the Gate was that they were in a rather small cave. This wasn't really much of a change from where they just were, but it was a start. Meanwhile, the party was discussing the new developments of late. "But how did Elaeus learn alchemy?" Alphonse asked worriedly.

Edward shrugged. "That's not really our problem. Who knows how long Dilan had been in Amestris? And there was nothing stopping the other apprentices from just... _dropping in_ and sampling some alchemy for themselves, either," he added, more than a little uncomfortable with referring to Amestris as just another world. "Alex learned alchemy in a pretty unorthodox way, and Erica's Heartless had also done so over little time. The apprentices must have found a way too, but... that's not our concern right now."

The younger Elric nodded, and then looked back at the closed Gate. "Well then... should we worry about where this Gate has taken us?"

Lucca took a glance around the cave, and said, "Well, it **is** the Gate nearest to Lavos and Elaeus. We have no idea as to where it leads."

Robo's eyes flickered a couple of times, as if he was processing something internally. "The Time Gyro says..." He suddenly flinched. "_What!?_ 12,000 years in the past!? That was some trip!"

Alex did the math in his head. "If it's 12,000 BC here... and we left 65 million BC... then that means we've transcended... sixty-four million, nine-hundred-eighty-eight-thousand years." He let out a low whistle. "Some trip, indeed." He looked at the cave's exit, and started to walk out.

He shielded his face upon doing so. There was a snowstorm outside. The entire area for miles was a winter wasteland. It reminded him of how the future era was in reality, but he also took note that they were being buffeted by snow and hail now, rather than sand.

"Looks like Elaeus had been right!" Lucca called out over the snowstorm. "The planet's still in the middle of an ice age! Makes me wonder where the people are!"

Alex looked to the left from the cave. "I think we're supposed to go this way!" he shouted back. "Come on!" He led them across the snowy wastes into a peninsula to the southeast. There they found a strange white and violet structure, part of which was glowing brightly.

They entered the structure, which just had a small, expensively-constructed room, which had a small shining circle in the center of the room. The party stepped onto the circle, and a violet light suddenly enveloped them all. They all got a rising feeling as the light dragged them up and out of the structure.

* * *

The party reappeared on a large pedestal with a similar circle design imprinted into it, and some of the fighters fell to the ground. Edward groaned and clutched his stomach. "More teleportation stuff!" he moaned. "I swear, I'm gonna _kill_ those 'Square-Enix' guys..."

Alphonse stepped off the platform and gasped. "Guys. Look."

Everyone looked. And everyone was equally surprised. There were clouds all around them, flowing on past them. "We're in the sky?" Lucca mumbled. They then looked around at the terrain. It was lush, green, and floating on through the sky. They were on a floating island!

"What in the name of...?!" Edward muttered, his confusion masking his own pain for the moment.

"Hey, look over here!" Robo called out, pointing to the east. There was a large structure ahead, most likely a building. Some civilization on this anomalous manifest. The party walked into the structure, noticing the sign outside reading, "Enhasa."

The inside seemed like a large university, with the floor, walls, and numerous bookshelves constructed with shiny, expensive-looking materials. It certainly seemed like a royal estate.

The man at the front table, who was working with some books, looked up at them with some measure of surprise. But the surprise soon faded, and the man greeted them with a smile. "Welcome to Enhasa, in the magical kingdom of Zeal. We find truth in the bliss of sleep." The surprise returned as he sized them up, and he exclaimed, "Dear me! And who might you be?"

The party each gave their names, and the man nodded. "Well, do enjoy your visit to Enhasa," he said, before returning to his work.

The fighters retreated to the entrance again, and Edward sighed. "Okay, this is getting too weird for me," he growled. "I'm gonna wait outside. You guys go investigate inside."

Lucca nodded. "Actually, that's not a bad idea." She turned to Alex and said, "Alex, you go on and look around in here, then come back and tell us what you find out. You can act more naturally in here than the rest of us can, so it's safer this way."

Alexander thought this a little strange, but nodded. "Alright. I'll take a look around." The party left the building, and Alex looked around the first floor. In one section to the right, he found a creature who looked suspiciously like Masa. As Alex approached, "Masa" turned to him and said, "This is the eternal kingdom of Zeal, where dreams can come true. But at what price?" He then jumped up and disappeared in an instant.

Alex climbed up the stairs to the side of the front desk, and came to a small section with a woman watching another person sleeping in the bed next to the wall. The woman, like everyone else in the building, was dressed in rather regal, fancy clothes. As regal and fancy as you would get in the dark ages, anyway.

The woman looked upon him with surprise and exclaimed, "What a strange visitor! Welcome to Zeal! Is this part of a dream?" She shook her head at her own question, and explained. "Queen Zeal rules our magical kingdom. She is without peer in beauty and greatness."

Alex, somewhat curious, was about to ask what the whole deal was with sleeping, but then the blue-haired woman sleeping in the bed spoke up, keeping her eyes closed. "The Queen has given us everything!" she declared drowsily. "After the King died, she nurtured magic, which has advanced the kingdom." She then started snoring. Nonplussed, Alex walked back down the stairs and then up the ones behind the front desk to the second floor. The path split from there, but Alex first climbed the stairs to the right, leading to a section of the third floor.

Alexander found "Masa" there again. "Am I a butterfly dreaming I'm a man..." "Masa" intoned, "or a bowling ball dreaming I'm a plate of sashimi?" With a slight grin, "Masa" said, "Never assume that what you see and feel is real!" He then jumped up and disappeared again.

Alex approached the two beds in the back of the section, in which laid a Zeal man and... something resembling a Poyozo doll. The man snored a bit, mumbling, "Truths exists in dreams... Herbal tea... crsytals..." And that's all Alex could pick up.

As Alex turned toward the Poyozo doll thing, it asked, "Do you believe in Fate? Which means our lives are all predetermined?"

Alexander scowled. Well, someone was bound to ask the question sooner or later. Still, it was a subject that Alex didn't particularly like. He liked knowing that he had his own choices, and knowing that everything that had brought him here was his own feet and the help of his friends.

"Well?" the doll demanded.

Alexander rolled his eyes. "No such thing as Fate," he muttered.

The doll forced out something of a smile. "You're right!" it exclaimed. "We are the masters of our own destinies! Speaking of which... I think there may be a door of destiny hidden somewhere around here!"

Alex shrugged. Hidden rooms weren't his concern right now. He walked back down the stairs to the second floor, and walked up the stairs in the middle to another section of the third floor. There was one bed to the side, with another woman sleeping in it. "The city of Kajar," the woman suddenly said without opening her eyes, "where they study magic, lies on the edge of the western continent. The airship, 'Blackbird,' is kept there." She went right on to sleep, but Alex grinned. Thank goodness for the random exposition.

Alex went back down to the second floor, skipped over the stairs to the left, and walked down to a section with a few people around, one of which seemed to be selling items. He found the Masa lookalike there once more. As Alex approached, it said, "I'm Doreen. Seek the hidden path, and open the doors of knowledge, each in turn." He then disappeared for the last time.

The Interference nodded and then talked with the other men in the area. One of them spoke of Queen Zeal sealing some kind of "Elemental Weapons" in the northern palace. No one was allowed in there, though people could see the entrance on the northern continent. The other man added on to that, saying that it was sealed with a rather mysterious energy. Even they, the self-proclaimed "Enlightened Ones," couldn't open it.

Alex then doubled back and climbed up the remaining flight of stairs. As he came up, a blue-haired boy followed by a purple cat approached him. The boy was silent as he stared at Alexander. A chill went down Alex's spine, but he tried to act calm. "Hey, can I help you?" he asked. "Do you have something to say?"

The boy said nothing, but walked past Alexander. He then stopped without turning around, and muttered, "The Black Wind howls..." He faced Alexander with a cold look, but said nothing further. As the boy walked away, Alex was left with a unsettling feeling in his stomach. He couldn't hear the Black Wind howling himself, but he recognized the kid, and knew that the Black Wind was an omen of death. But what was being implied, then...?

The Interference took in a long sigh to calm himself, then continued up the stairs to the landing. He saw a Zeal woman standing near a blue pad on the ground. The woman looked at him, and smiled. "You look like you could use some rest." She gestured at the blue pad on the ground. "This is a Spring of Recovery. Heal your body and mind here."

Alexander took a couple of steps and stood on the pad. Suddenly, a blue light washed over him, and his body felt light for a moment. When the light faded, Alex felt one heck of a lot better. His body felt completely healed, and his mind was clear and focused. His magic power was at its highest capacity, it seemed as well.

With an energized grin, he walked over to the back of the room, where one man was sleeping in a bed while another sat at a table. The man at the table mumbled, "I wonder what's at the north palace... I bet there's a key to it in the palace. But entry is strictly forbidden."

The man in the bed opened his eyes as Alex approached. "The Queen's palace is at the center of Zeal. From there she protects the entire world. That's why we can sleep our days away." He yawned, and closed his eyes before beginning to snore.

Alexander sighed. Boy, this was turning out to be quite the load of information. But he had talked to everyone, and there seemed to be nothing else to do. Except, though, to find that secret passage... **_A really small, pointless sidequest in the long run,_** Joumae reminded him. Alex had to admit again that Joumae was right, and he finally exited Enhasa.

* * *

"What, so these guys just dream away their lives?" Lucca inferred incredulously after Alexander had finished his explanation. Alex had met the party a distance north of Enhasa and was relating the events he'd witnessed in the establishment.

Alexander nodded passively. "The ones at Enhasa, anyway."

"The Kingdom of Zeal..." Alphonse repeated thoughtfully. He then jumped a little as a thought came to him. "Wait! Remember what Spekkio said the first time we met him, when he was lecturing us about magic? He said that there had been a kingdom long ago where magic flourished, right?"

Robo looked around at the floating continents on the horizons. "I see what you mean. This certainly does look like a kingdom that could be described as such."

Edward grinned suddenly. "So these people specialize in magic, huh? That just might work to our advantage..."

Crono glanced at the short alchemist with a confused look. Alexander also seemed curious as to where Edward was going with this.

"Lavos and Elaeus," Edward began to explain, "have been hibernating in the earth for just short of sixty-five million years, right? Surely they're a big enough presence now... perhaps these magic users can help us find them!"

Lucca's eyes widened. "Yeah! I hadn't thought of that!"

"And," Edward continued, "if they know so much about magic, maybe we can learn a few more... _advanced_ spells while we're at it. I would think they've got some kind of magic teaching thing around here somewhere..."

Alexander sighed. Edward was somewhat right on the first account, but not so much on the second. He hadn't seen anything in the game that clued in to something like Edward was suggesting. The only way to learn more techniques was to gain experience by using the techs they already had. Besides, they were nearing the ends of their lists, anyway.

Crono looked to the northern part of the floating island, and pointed toward a structure in the distance. It looked like the same one they had exited from when they arrived. A Land Bridge, most likely connecting to a Skyway on the snowy surface below.

The party got onto the Land Bridge, and a violet light enveloped them. When the light faded, they were back in a similar structure, with the blizzard howling outside. Alex led them outside and then north, between a couple of large hills and then west, where they found another Skyway.

"Damn! No wonder they like the real estate up top!" Edward cursed. "This snow is freakin' persistent!" The rest of the party silently agreed as they activated the Skyway and traveled up to the Land Bridge pedestal. This time, they were on the much larger floating island to the northwest of where Enhasa was.

The allies walked along the dirt path ahead of them, ending up crossing a couple of bridges that hung over outwardly flowing streams, fed by a small lake to the side that had a large waterfall leading into it. Alex had to admit, the island looked incredibly serene.

The dirt path turned right and went along a forest, then split. The party took the left path, and came across another university-city like Enhasa there. The name of this one was Kajar. Alexander frowned as they approached the building's entrance, saying, "Y'know, that whole thing of me going in alone was kinda tedious. Let's just all go in together this time, okay?"

The rest of the party agreed, and they entered a small entrance room with stairs ahead and a narrow hallway to their right. The Enlightened man standing near the stairs noticed them and said, "This is the magical city of Kajar. We do experiments for the Queen."

The party walked down the hallway, coming across a woman that looked at them strangely upon their approach. "Your power differs from ours..." she noted, tilting her head to the side. "In you I sense a strange aura of... kindness..." She trailed off, and the party continued onward.

As they entered the room on the other end of the hallway, they were confronted by a strange sight. In the middle of the room, standing near another Spring of Recovery, was a group of Strafer Heartless. Edward let out a cry of surprise, and shouted, "What are **these** things doing here!?"

Crono started to draw out his katana, but a man nearby noticed this and shouted, "Hey, stop that!"

The party stopped in mid-charge, staring at the man who had made the outburst. The man glared at them and continued, "Are you drawing weapons against the Queen's servants!?"

"Say what?" Alphonse mumbled.

"These creatures, the Heartless," the man growled, "are the creations of Queen Zeal and her technology at the palace. They do our bidding and make life for us Enlightened Ones far easier. And you were about to take arms against them!"

"What are you talking about?" Robo demanded. "The Heartless don't do people's bidding – they attack people and try to take their hearts! We've faced them in the past before..."

"What are _**you**_ talking about!?" the man shouted in return, cutting the robot off. "The Heartless are the recent creation of Queen Zeal. They've only been in Kajar for a few months, at least. We're lucky to have been allowed their service; Enhasa won't be graced as such for a while, surely."

Alexander scowled, but looked toward the Heartless. The Heartless stared back with their beady yellow eyes, but they didn't move an inch. The normally jittery Strafers were completely docile. Maybe they _were_ under control... but how long could that last? He turned toward the man and said, "Alright, sorry sir. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't," the man replied, before moving along through the halls.

The party stared at the Heartless, then back at Alexander. Lucca adjusted her glasses, and said, "So... we just play along for now, then?" she asked, guessing Alex's intentions.

Alex nodded. "But we gotta get to the bottom of this."

"Needless to say," Edward remarked. The party made a left and walked through another hallway, entering a much larger main room.

Alex spoke to a man near the end of the hall, who said, "That's the Sun Keep you see on the southern continent. A Sun Stone, once the source of this world's power, was kept there. But when we began using our new energy source, it was sealed up just like the north palace. They claimed we don't need the energy of this tired, old planet."

As the party continued on, they saw many more Heartless standing guard around the entire facility. All of them being the Space Paranoids kind, Alex noticed. Magnum Loaders, Strafers, Devastators... They all looked like machines, and they were all completely calm as the party passed by. Heck, there was even a Strafer managing the small shop there, selling basic provisions like Tonics and Ethers.

There was a set of stairs with a green carpet leading up to the second floor, but Alex skipped that and led the party up a smaller staircase to the side, leading to a section with many books and a couple of tables. One of the women looked at them with surprise as they approached, saying, "My, you've got an unusual aura! So... you must possess the skill, too!" With a giggle, she added, "It must be very primitive compared to ours! You poor things!"

While it was probably true, Alex might have taken note that they were hardened adventurers while she was just a simple uppity noble. But Joumae was the one that offered the words of encouragement. _**Just wait until Edward learns Flare, lady.**_ At that, Alexander had to stifle a chuckle. That _was_ reassuring.

They walked around, approaching a woman standing near the table in the back. "Those lacking magic have always lived beneath the clouds, as the 'Earthbound Ones.' After all, they lack what we have..."

A man near the bookcases muttered, "How did we come by our skills? And why do others lack them?" With a grin, the stranger added, "Who cares!"

The party walked onward, skipping a doorway in the back and crossing over to the area near the staircase they had passed by earlier. There was another man standing at the ledge, who explained to the party, "Queen Zeal has two heirs, Schala and Janus. Schala's an incredible child who has extraordinary magical powers. Being so gifted, she'll breeze through life."

They passed the landing of the staircase and came to a corner with a couple of people, who had more to say about the royal family. "His only friend," one of them muttered, "other than his sister, is that stupid cat. What tempest rages in his head?" He didn't say who was being referred to, but it seemed obvious to the party.

The woman that was standing near the ledge said, "We've been seeing a lot of Janus lately. He appears upset and paces around."

The party then entered the room that the green carpet led into. They climbed some stairs and found themselves in a large room with a long table in the middle of it, with various devices and people on and around it.

"The Gurus of Life, Time, and Reason live in Zeal," a woman near the table said to the group. "Their skill and knowledge is supreme."

"Zeal's advances stem from a new power source," the man on the same side of the table explained to the party with some pride. "Its power surpasses that of the elements. The Heartless creations are just some of the ingenious works Zeal has made with that power."

There was a large bookcase in the back of that floor, and a man standing near it said, "I heard a strange prophet has come to the palace. I don't know the details... but I heard he has uncanny powers." And then next to that man was a large blue creature that pretty much looked like a round face with limbs, and a bright green ridge of hair on the top of its head. A Nu, if Alex remembered correctly. It didn't speak to the party at all.

There was a man in violet researcher's garments working on some device near the table. "I'm working on a tab that will boost magical skill. But my precious products have been disappearing lately... Must be the naughty Nu that hid them. They love pranks..." The man sighed and mumbled, "What can I do?"

Edward glanced at the table, and found something looking remarkably like a Magic Tab on the table. The alchemist reached for it, but the man stopped him and said, "Oops, that's a defective item. Too bad, huh? Hahaha..."

The man on the other side of the researcher said to the party in a low voice, "I heard Schala's powers far exceed those of her mother. Then there's her stepbrother, Janus. He's of royal blood, but he doesn't seem to have a speck of magic powers."

The party then climbed up some more stairs and reached the balcony of the room. They spoke with another researcher near one of the windows, who said, "Did you know that a Moon Stone can be recharged if you leave it in the sun? But it takes aeons, so it's unlikely for us to see that gorgeous glow again."

There was a woman standing at the ledge overlooking the rest of the room, who told the group, "A Guru once told me that the Sun Stone could store the almost infinite energy of our sun. But if its energy were used up, it would lose its glow and change into a Moon Stone."

Lastly, there was a sleeping Nu on the other side of the balcony, which Alex decided not to disturb. The party squeezed past a Devastator that was making its rounds, and returned back to the main room. Then they went back and went through the passageway that they had skipped over before. It was another small room, but there were a few people mulling about in it.

And they all had something to say. "The Ocean Palace lies deep beneath the waves," a woman near the table on the left remarked. "It's a symbol of the Queen's power! The Palace is the source of light which sustains all living things. Queen Zeal, the great!"

The man also standing at the table said, "The Earthbound Ones are being allowed to work on the construction of the Palace." With a wry grin, he added, "So they _do_ have a purpose after all."

There was another researcher-type person pacing back and forth impatiently on the other side of the room. "The construction of the Ocean Palace is behind schedule," he muttered when the party inquired. "Eternal Palace, beneath the waves... It'll be a sight to see when it's _done_!"

Then finally, they spoke to a man standing near the window in the corner. "Indeed!" he said suddenly. "The great aeroplane 'Blackbird,' which Belthasar built. When it soars in the sky, it looks alive! Belthasar is truly a genius!"

That was all the information they could get out of this building, so the party left the building and went back outside. Just in time for them to miss the Heartless exchanging some unusual looks and gestures amongst themselves, as if relaying some new information.

* * *

Edward sighed and stretched, tired of all the exposition. "These people certainly are free with their information, aren't they?" he remarked sarcastically. "The Heartless brought forth by some strange power source of Queen Zeal's..."

"...the Sun Stone and what powers it contains, as well as the phenomenon that produces it..." Lucca added.

"...the Queen's royal heirs, Schala and Janus..." Alphonse continued.

"...the segregation between the magic and non-magic users, the Earthbound Ones and the Enlightened Ones..." Robo said analytically.

"...then the construction of the Ocean Palace and the Blackbird," Alex finished. He pointed to the west of Kajar. "And the Blackbird is parked right over there." They saw a small white building near the edge of the floating isle... and there was a large metal rig on the other side of it, holding up a gigantic green airplane-type thing.

The party walked over to the Blackbird's roost of sorts and moved across the metal rigging holding it up, coming up to right behind the plane. There were two purple-robes humanoid creatures guarding the Blackbird, one of which saw the party and demanded, "Who're you guys!?"

"Everything okay with the Blackbird?" a voice came from behind them. The party turned around to see a man with an orange cloak, green robes with an orange sash, and long golden-blond hair approach them.

One of the soldiers replied, "Everything's A-okay, Sir Dalton!"

Dalton's grin wavered for just a moment. "Of course it is, you idiot!" He then focused on the party and said, "Hey you! What're you doing there!?" He walked toward the party, and his grin became a little wider. "Aha... it was true then...! You're the ones the Prophet said would come and cause trouble!"

As the party recoiled in surprise, Dalton whipped around and declared, "Let's see how you handle **this** little situation. I didn't think they'd make it so easy on me! Ha!" With that, he walked away.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Situation? I thought we were in for a fight or something!"

"Were you hoping for that, brother?" Alphonse couldn't seem to help but ask.

Edward scowled in response. "Yeah, but... Seriously, I think we all know a threat when we see one. And what was that about some Prophet?"

Lucca nodded at the last bit. "One of the guys in Kajar said something about a prophet, didn't they? And this Dalton guy seems like a higher-up even among these 'Enlightened Ones'..."

The party started to walk away from the Blackbird port, and came back to the fork in the road. Alex looked up at the small mountain on the other side of the island, especially focusing on the building at the top. "That's the palace," he said to the others. "If we go there, I'm sure we'll find out more about what's really going on around here."

They followed the rest of the dirt path and came to a small cave. On a raised platform in the cave was a pillar of golden light. The party walked into the light, and felt the strange sensation of being teleported away.

They reappeared in a similar cave, but when they left they saw that they were now on a path much higher up the mountain. They were just under the waterfall's peak. All six of them crossed the bridge spanning across the waterfall's landing below and entered another cave, which similarly teleported them even higher up the mountain. From the cave exit there, they climbed up a long set of stairs until they walked through the main gates of the Zeal Palace.

* * *

The party walked along a small hallway until they were able to see the entirety of the main room of Zeal Palace. The Enlightened man standing there at the entrance said, "This is the Queen's Palace, the center of Zeal Kingdom. Which makes **this**... the center of the universe."

"I see," Edward muttered in response. By now, it was obvious to the others that Edward's opinion of the Enlightened Ones had gone extremely downhill.

As they passed the man, Alexander suggested, "Let's not bother with exposition here."

Lucca nodded. "Good idea. With what Dalton said earlier, I think the royals might be expecting us. And not in a good way, with our luck."

Everyone looked around at the expanse of the room, and a collective feeling of foreboding washed over them. There were more Heartless here than there were in Kajar, even relatively speaking. But they were as motionless as ever. The party walked along the violet carpet path, moving up a flight of stairs. On the first landing, they saw a couple of creatures that once again looked like Masa and Mune.

One of them looked over to the other and said, "I wanna be the wind, Masa!"

The other looked back and passively responded with, "Oh, you will someday."

They were silent for a moment, and then Masa said, "Big sister Doreen's at Enhasa again..."

The creature that was obviously Mune sighed. "Yeah... That's 'cause she likes dreams."

"I like the wind better!" Masa remarked with a grin. "Whoosh!"

The pair of creatures were too near each other to allow the party access without shoving them aside, so Alex led them back down and up a couple of flights of stairs on the right. They then approached a doorway in the back of the large room on the rightmost third floor. A Nu standing beside it, which woke up for a moment as the party approached, said, "This will take you to the bedroom."

The passage led to a small hallway with two more doors, and Alex led them into the room at the right. They found themselves at the base of some stairs, which led to a small bedroom above them, but they stopped as they heard a conversation.

"Schala!!" a boy's voice cried out. Alex stiffened as he recognized the voice. It was the strange boy he'd met at Enhasa! He slowly made his way up the stairs and peeked over the edge of the room, looking in on the strangers.

"Oh, you're back, Janus!" a woman with blue hair in a large violet robe declared in surprise. "Is something wrong?"

"The Black Wind..." Janus mumbled, lowering his head. His purple cat snuggled up to the boy's leg as if to comfort him.

Schala's faint smile wavered for a moment. "You feel it too? Don't worry, it'll be alright."

Alexander took his attention away from the conversation for a moment and listened. Indeed, he could've sworn he could hear the Black Wind howling, but... it was so faint that he doubted that it wasn't just his memory haunting him. Perhaps he couldn't hear it as well as those of Zeal's royal family?

As Alex looked back at them, Schala approached Janus and held out something to him. "Now, hold onto this." It was some kind of shining blue necklace.

Janus looked up at the shining object. "What is it?"

"It's a kind of amulet," Schala explained. "If something should happen, it'll protect you. I wish I could be with you always... But Mother has other plans."

Janus scowled and turned away, and Alex ducked to avoid being seen. "She's **not** our mother!" he shouted. "She looks like Mother, but inside she has changed."

Schala took a step back in surprise, and looked away sadly. "...Still, I can't... Janus, I'm sorry."

"Excuse me, Highness," a voice came from behind the party. An Enlightened woman moved past the party up the stairs, and approached Schala. "The Queen asks for your immediate presence at the Ocean Palace."

Schala did her best to keep her face neutral. "Alright," she replied with a nod. She walked past Janus, who looked on sadly. "Well, Janus... I'll be going."

The woman and Schala started to move on down the stairs, but Schala stopped at the sight of the party. "Oh! Who might you be?" she asked with genuine interest.

Some of the party members might've responded, if it weren't for the Enlightened woman saying, "Miss Schala, please hurry. If you're late, I'll be punished!"

Schala seemed to snap out of her reverie and nodded at the woman. "Oh yes, I'm sorry." She moved on past the party, trying her best not to give them another glance.

Janus, still up in the room, sighed and started to pace around. His cat followed him around with every step. Alphonse, being the cat lover that he was, tried to move forward to pet the cat. But the cat moved away, and Janus muttered, "Don't waste your time. Alfador only likes me."

The cat meowed in response.

* * *

The party moved back into the main room. "This place is giving me the creeps," Edward said. "And judging by that conversation, I'd say my suspicions are grounded enough."

"Indeed," Robo agreed. "Perhaps we should find this Schala person and ask what's going on from her point of view. It sounds like the royal family knows more of the truth than the normal Enlightened Ones do."

Alex nodded. It was nice that his friends were making these deductions on their own, and not completely relying on him to give explanations. "If I remember correctly," he cut in, "the portal to the Ocean Palace is in the Queen's chamber. We should see about getting in there first."

They found a set of stairs that led to the landing right above where Masa and Mune were, and moved along the violet carpet path to another hallway. Upon entering, they found Schala climbing up the stairs ahead of them, and the party went into pursuit. Schala stopped at the end of the hallway, in front of some kind of black obsidian panel with a golden crest in the center of it.

Schala took off her necklace, which had a large, bright blue pendant hanging from the chain. She held it up to the panel, and a blue light radiated from the pendant for a moment. When the light faded, the panel had faded out of existence to allow Schala access. When Schala passed through the doorway, the panel reappeared again.

Crono suddenly dug into their inventory bag and pulled out Marle's pendant. Lucca gasped. "The two pendants look the same! Let's see if it'll work for us."

Crono nodded at her and ran toward the panel, and held up the pendant to it. However, no light shone forth from the stone, and the panel didn't fade in the slightest. Alphonse placed a hand on his head, staring at the panel. "It doesn't look like they have the same properties."

The lights behind Robo's eyes blinked brightly a couple of times. "This door has a strong defense mechanism."

Lucca folded her arms and lowered her head thoughtfully. "Still... There's something to do with this pendant. Maybe Schala's has some property that died out before the present time?"

There were two Enlightened women in blue robes standing by the door. One of them overheard the party and said, "To open the door from the outside, an item like Schala's pendant is needed to break the seal." She suddenly gasped at what was in Crono's hands. "Y...Your pendant!! It looks exactly like Schala's! I heard that when Schala communes with the Mammon Machine, her pendant starts to glow."

"The Mammon Machine?" Edward echoed. "Where's that?"

"In a chamber on the other side of this one," Alex replied. "Let's get going!" He led the party back out the doorway and over to the other side of the room, where there was a passageway with a Nu standing guard in front of it.

Alex nudged the Nu, which woke up suddenly and stepped to the side. "This leads to the hall of the Mammon Machine," it said, before beginning to snooze again.

Alexander then took the pendant from Crono's hands. "I'll be right back," he said. "You guys wait outside that door." He then ran into the doorway and moved on.

Crono sighed at the sudden loss, but then looked around and saw something that caught his eye. He moved down to a section on the second floor overlooking the entrance. There was an Enlightened woman there, holding a pouch with a sapling sprouting out of it.

When he approached, the woman noticed where his gaze was and said, "Visitor, do you like plants?"

Considering that he'd seen a remarkable few inside the buildings, he had to admit, "Yes."

The woman smiled. "Oh, you're just like me!" Her smile disappeared as she continued, "But the Queen ordered me to burn this sapling I received from the Guru of Life. He said it was a magical sapling, with powers to cure the environment. What shall I do?"

Crono thought about it for a moment. The pouch and the sapling looked rather familiar... He then realized that it looked exactly like what he'd seen back at Arris Dome. When Doan had planted the seeds in a similar-looking pouch, one of them had almost immediately sprouted into a sapling. Could this be the same seed? Crono smiled at the woman and said, "Secretly plant it."

The woman's eyes widened in realization and relief. "You're right! Even if it **is** the Queen's command, the Guru of Life gave it to me. I can't burn it... I'm going to grow it with love. Someday, it may save the environment."

"Crono, what the heck are you doing?" Edward shouted over to him, drawing his attention back to the party. "Alex told us to wait at the door!"

Crono nodded at the woman and ran back toward the party. He had a strange grin on his face that left the rest of the party confused as to what he'd done.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Alex ran forward through the hallway, and passed a couple of people outside of the doorway into the Mammon Machine's hall. One of them, a woman in blue robes who was looking into the room, gave him a glance and said, "The Mammon Machine? You came to see it?"

A little off guard by the sudden question, Alex replied, "Uh... yeah." He quickly wrapped the pendant around his fist, which he held behind his back.

The woman smiled a strange smile. "I thought so! Feel the flow of the mighty Lavos and Elaeus's power? Oh...! I feel faint." She closed her eyes as a strange euphoria washed over her expression, and Alex took a step back in surprise.

Okay, so he _had_ known that the Mammon Machine had been made to harness Lavos's power. He would admit that he'd failed to mention that. However, he hadn't expected to hear it so openly from one of the normal Enlightened Ones. Not only that, but he _definitely_ hadn't expected to hear a mention of Elaeus there! The kingdom of Zeal was not only harnessing Lavos's massive energies, but also Elaeus's along with it! That meant that Elaeus was getting _stronger_ with his time hibernating in the earth.

Alex shook off his fear for a moment and dashed into the hall of the Mammon Machine. There were six other Enlightened Ones standing around the cylindrical device in the middle of the extravagantly decorated room. On top of the device was a golden statue of some kind. Alex unwrapped the pendant from his hand and held it up to the Mammon Machine. A bright red light pulsed from the machine into the room, which focused onto the pendant.

The Interference wrapped the pendant back around his hand, and stared at the machine thoughtfully. So **this** was Zeal's new energy source, in lieu of the Sun Stone. _**This must be where the Heartless came from too, y'know,**_ Joumae pointed out. _**If Elaeus really is part of this machine too, that would explain where they came from, why they're under control, and why they look like Space Paranoid types. They were manufactured from Elaeus's energy!**_

Alex nodded. That explained one _heck_ of a lot. Then he remembered that the others were waiting for him, and he ran out of the hall.

* * *

The party saw Alex dash up the stairs two at a time as they stood in front of the obsidian door. Alphonse waved to him and shouted, "Have you powered up the pendant?"

Alex nodded and came to a halt in front of his comrades. He held himself up with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "I just found out why there are Heartless here, and why things are going so strangely here," he gasped. "The Mammon Machine is harnessing Lavos's and Elaeus's powers!"

The rest of the group recoiled in shock. "Are you sure!?" Robo demanded.

"Sure I'm sure!" Alex replied. "Lavos and Elaeus have been in this planet for millions of years, so they've had plenty of time to slowly build up their powers. That Mammon Machine is also the thing that is manufacturing the Heartless, using Elaeus's Heartless energy. They're only under control because the machine is Queen Zeal's pet project."

"So the Queen is the antagonist here," Edward inferred, "if she's the one in control of the Heartless."

Lucca nodded thoughtfully. "That would also explain the Queen's apparent change of behavior, as Janus mentioned before. That much power of that kind of element is sure to have a negative effect on the mind."

Crono held out his hand, and Alex placed the pendant in the boy's grip. Crono held up the pendant to the door, and a bright blue light shone from the trinket. The obsidian door disappeared, and Lucca chuckled. "Heh heh... Even a door of this caliber can't keep science at bay!"

Robo's eyes blinked a few times analytically. "There is no doubt. Marle's pendant is made of the same 'Guru's rock.'"

"The Dreamstone?" Alphonse queried, to which Robo nodded.

"Makes sense," Alex admitted. "The Mammon Machine certainly did seem to be made out of that red stone. The glow certainly proved as much." With that, Alexander ran through the doorway, and the party followed suit.

* * *

The party ran into the Queen's chambers, which was an extravagant throne room that was designed similarly to the Mammon Machine's hall. Dalton, Schala, and a stranger in a dark blue cloak stood before the Queen, who was seated in the large throne in the back. The Queen had the same silver-blue hair as her offspring, and her royal garments and tiara were a faded orange with teal linings.

The Queen looked outraged at the intrusion. "Who are you!?" she demanded. "How did you get in here?"

The strange cloaked man moved toward the throne and said, "Your Majesty... These are the evildoers I warned you of." Apparently, this was the strange Prophet that had been referred to before.

Alex clenched his hands into fists. Evildoers!? "Magus, you hypocrite!" he blurted out in rage, causing the others to gasp in surprise.

The Prophet whipped around toward Alex, keeping his hood down. But Alex could certainly feel the man's glare boring into his head. To be honest, Alex was immediately regretting making the outburst, and Joumae was making comments that weren't helping his embarrassment. _**Oh, sure, you talk the talk about keeping quiet about things, and there you go blurting stuff out when you shouldn't...**_

The Queen ignored this exchange and declared, "How **dare** you could oppose me, you... foreigners! You're worse than the Gurus!" She looked toward her few subjects nearby, and screamed, "Fools! Dalton, take them away!"

Dalton grinned and gave the Queen a slight deference. "Yes ma'am! By your leave..." He whipped around and shouted, "_Golems_!" All four Enlightened Ones disappeared from the room, and a black portal appeared near the throne. From it, a bunch of black mud creatures began pouring out of it.

Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander recoiled. "What the _**hell**_!?" Edward shouted. "What are Golems doing here!?" Indeed, these were the very same Golems that had been their major enemy in Amestris.

A large company of the creatures had left the portal, which closed and left the party face to face with all of the monsters. The party got into fighting stances, and Lucca glanced back at the three off-worlders. "You recognize these things?"

Alphonse nodded. "These are mud Golems created through alchemy! We had to fight through a whole army of them on the adventure through our own world."

Alex scowled, brandishing the Lightning Guard Lockshield. "It looks like Elaeus has more influence in this world than I first thought..." he muttered. With a cry, he charged into the throng of Golems.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	21. Seeking the Trigger

Chapter 20  
Seeking the Trigger

"Hya!" Alex cried out as he spun around and kicked a Slasher Adult Golem back into the crowd of clay enemies. He then sliced through a few approaching Pet Golems with the serrated blade of his current Lockshield, cutting the monsters into clean halves that splattered onto the ground.

Edward juggled a fireball in his hands for a few moments before setting an Elder Golem on fire with it. The larger Golem slowly melted into a pile of black mud. Robo pulled back a fist and let it thrust forward, the arm extending at the wrist until it punched right into a Kid Golem, which fell back and dissolved into mud. Robo's hand came back to his arm, and he looked around for more targets.

Lucca fired a few shots, which simply glanced off a Warrior Golem's armor. "This isn't going quickly enough!" she exclaimed over the sounds of battle. Crono jumped back as another Kid Golem rammed into the ground, creating large spikes that stabbed into the air Crono had occupied moments before. Indeed, speed was of the essence here. If they couldn't take the Golems out quickly enough, they'd be overwhelmed by fatigue and the enemies' collective strength.

"Wait!" Alphonse suddenly exclaimed from the back of the group. He summoned magical energy and shouted, "_Water 2_!" The whole area around them was tinted blue as Alphonse's magical power coursed through it. A large wave of magical water crashed through the army of Golems from the side, washing through them. And since they were made out of hardened mud, the water made the Golems start to liquefy and dissolve into their basic components. The sheer force of the water added onto this effect resulted in the entire Golem army just washing over the side of the throne room's platform.

The blue aura faded, and everyone else was shocked by the fact that a room full of enemies had suddenly given way to a clear space. They looked back at Alphonse with varied looks, ranging from surprise to respect. Alphonse just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Man, I wish you'd had _that_ back in Amestris," Edward joked to his brother. But then some warping sounds occurred behind them, causing them to look toward the throne with serious looks.

The Queen, Schala, the "Prophet," and Dalton reappeared in the room in small flashes of light. Dalton looked ready to burst with rage. "My poor Golems!" he wailed, shaking his fist at the party. "That was _inexcusable_!" He let out a wave of his hands again, and a small dark sphere surrounded the party for a moment. The sphere faded, and a pyramid of blue energy closed in on them.

Alex let out a cry and dropped to his knees as pain shot through his whole body. The others faced similar reactions. The energy of the pyramid was paralyzing them all. The Queen took a few steps down from her throne and sneered down at them. "Mwahaha... Fear not! You won't die... immediately, that is!" she assured them with a cackle. "But by the time we're through with you, you'll be begging us to end your suffering. What a delicious diversion!"

She cackled at the top of her lungs, but Alexander no longer had the strength to listen. He soon blacked out.

* * *

_Later, in the hall of the Mammon Machine..._

The six fighters floated in the golden column of energy that had once held the Mammon Machine. They were still unconscious, and had been so for quite a while. The Mammon Machine had most likely been moved down to the Ocean Palace, and the machine was now being used to detain them.

A few figures moved into the room. It was Schala, Janus, and the cat Alfador. Janus looked up at the travelers with disdain. "Hmph! Idiots..." he muttered with disdain. Looking toward his older sister, he asked, "What will you do, Schala?"

Schala turned back from the party and said, "Let us rescue them."

"I think it's useless," Janus remarked, not at all surprised by his sister's intentions. "Besides, if they escape, _you'll_ be in trouble."

"Don't worry about me," Schala insisted. "They just might be able to rescue the Gurus. Besides..." she said, turning toward the machine and staring intently at Alexander, Edward, and Alphonse. "Those young men there... their energy is different from ours. From anyone in this world. They don't belong here." She stepped toward the machine and took her pendant off her neck, holding the jewel up to the machine.

A blue light shone through the room, and the six fighters floated out of the golden cylindrical light. They landed on the floor next to Schala, partially conscious now. As the party slowly got to their feet, Schala asked, "Are you alright? Quickly, escape from the palace! And, if you can, please rescue Melchior!"

The adventuring group was still in a daze, but Schala continued, "He was sent to the Mountain of Woe for opposing the Queen. Please! You have to help him!"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that..." a voice contended. The Prophet walked into the room, facing the weakened party. "Your meddling tires me," the enigmatic man spat. "You'll... just have to disappear!"

Schala moved in toward him with a worried look. "You mustn't!"

The Prophet looked surprised by Schala's movement, almost to the point that he looked stunned. Janus also moved in, shouting, "Stop!" Alfador also let out an anxious meow in protest.

"Okay..." the Prophet muttered, looking a little less cold than usual, "I'll spare them. But in return, you **will** cooperate, Schala!" Schala said nothing as the Prophet turned his attention to the party once again. "Now, show me how you came here."

* * *

The six fighters led them all the way back through Zeal, to the cave containing the Gate that had brought them there. Crono gestured toward the Gate as the Prophet walked through the entrance. "Hmm..." the Prophet mumbled, "so you came in through here."

Schala walked into the cave behind the Prophet, who turned toward her with an air of authority. "Now Schala!" he said commandingly. "After I throw them in, I want you to seal the portal shut."

"N-No!" Schala protested. "You can't make me!"

_**Geez, we'll just jump in ourselves if we're so unwanted,**_ Joumae grumbled in Alex's mind.

The Prophet turned away. "Obey me! Their lives are at stake!"

Edward scowled at the Prophet. He was still weary from being in a comatose state for so long, but being treated like such a weakling brought some fighting spirit back into his body.

Schala cracked under the pressure, all the same. "I... Oh, alright..."

The Prophet nodded and turned toward the party, staring at them meaningfully. Alexander caught his intent and sighed. He summoned the Lightning Guard and held it toward the Gate. The Gate expanded and opened up, and all six fighters piled inside. After a moment, the Gate closed in behind them.

Schala slowly walked toward the Gate and held her hands out to it. There was a ringing sound that rang through the air as she worked her magic. All at once, there was a bright flash, and a violet pyramid of magical barriers appeared around the Gate, locking it shut.

The Prophet walked out of the cave, looking pleased that the intruders had been dealt with. Schala started to walk away, trying to keep a straight face, but she fell down and started to hold back tears. "Please forgive me..." she whispered sadly.

* * *

The Gate at the Tyrano Lair's ruins opened up once more, and the sextet climbed out of the portal. When the Gate closed, a violet pyramid closed in around it, blocking their only route to the dark ages. Lucca looked down at the ground thoughtfully. "The Prophet could have just done away with us," she noted.

Edward smirked and turned to Alex. "You called that guy Magus, right Alex? Heh, and you talk so much about not blurting out information..."

"I know!" Alex protested. "I know! It just... slipped out, okay!? Him, calling us 'evildoers'... Heck, I was almost willing to break my self-censorship policy!"

Robo looked toward the others and said. "Magus's presence isn't our concern right now. The key to defeating Lavos must exist in that era."

"The crest on those sealed doors..." Alphonse pointed out. "Are there doors like that elsewhere in time, do you think? With the powered up pendant, we can open those kinds of seals now!"

"Yeah..." Alex muttered. "There is one door like that." This immediately brought attention to him. "There is one path in the future era that eventually leads to another dome, which has a door with that seal in the back of the main room. That's our next objective."

"Alright, then," Lucca said. "Shall we change party members? I'm ready for some actual rest, myself."

Alex nodded and opened up a portal to the End of Time. Lucca and Robo went through, and they called in Marle and Frog. After the essential pause to let the memories of the travels during their absences sink in, Frog jumped back in shock. "That's where Magus resides!?" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, but he's not doing much of anything there," Edward pointed out. "Anyway, we've got bigger fish to fry. Like finding another way back into that era of time."

Marle nodded and smiled. "We may yet find our way back into that era! Let's get cracking, guys!"

The party traveled to the southeast of the barren canyon to find that the six Dactyls they had left there were still meandering around. So the party mounted the creatures and flew back to the Mystic Mountains to the west. They traveled up the hills of the Mystic Mountains and jumped off the cliff leading into the Gate back to the End of Time.

The group walked down the stairs to the central platform of the End of Time, and met up with the remaining party members. The old man standing under the lamppost grinned as they approached. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "So you've been to the Land of Magic... Now that the pillar of light is sealed, you'll be needing something that will transport you through time. I recall someone working on such a device. The Wings of Time, I believe he called it. I'm afraid he became a tad psychotic spending so much of his time doing research."

And that was all the old man would tell them. So the party walked back to the platform with the pillars of light, and took the Gate leading to Proto Dome in 2300 AD.

As they left the Gate and reentered the back room of Proto Dome, Marle disdainfully remarked, "I see this place hasn't gotten any less depressing since we left." Not that it was surprising, but it wasn't much comfort as they traveled through the ruined, dusty dome and entered the sand-whipped wasteland outside.

"So where do we go from here?" Edward asked, shielding his eyes from the blowing sand like the others.

"We have to go back through Lab 32!" Alexander replied. "There's a sewer entrance on the other side that'll take us under the ocean and onto the smaller continent of the dome we're looking for!"

Alphonse slouched a little. "Lab 32?" he repeated. "Does that mean we have to race Johnny across the highway again?"

Crono started walking through the sandstorm, and the others followed. They traveled back north and west along the road, into the ruins of Laboratory 32. Upon officially entering the ruins, they immediately found Johnny standing next to the Jet Bike.

"So, you decided to come back, babe?" Johnny said with a grin, the exhaust pipe of the racing contraption strapped to his back spouting purple smoke. "Gonna give the ol' Bike another ride?"

Frog looked at the highway ahead of them. "'Tis not an exceedingly great distance," he noted. "Perhaps we can accomplish the trek on foot?"

Johnny smirked and shook his head. "Wouldn't wanna do that, babe." Pointing toward the highway, he said, "Those black creatures have been gathering in the Labs _en masse_ lately. Even if there's six of you guys, those monsters will overwhelm you before you can say 'chicken out.' It's been hard to ride like the wind these days."

"I see..." Alex muttered, looking between Johnny, the Jet Bike, and the stretch of highway before them. "So why would you want us to race you on the Jet Bike?"

"Hey, if I couldn't defend myself," Johnny pointed out, "I'd have been one of them by now. When I'm going at top speed, I can fend off a few of them. The robot ladies of mine on the other side of the Lab also have their own weapons, so they're alright as well. We just can't completely clear the highway for racing, is all. That is... not on our own."

Marle frowned. "What, so... you want us to help you clear the way?"

"You catch on fast, babe!" Johnny remarked. Stepping toward the Jet Bike, he said, "Ride with me through the highway, and then we'll take out all of 'em on the way! Besides, you guys aren't gonna be goin' to the other side without going through those creatures anyway, right?"

Alexander rolled his eyes and climbed into the seat of the Jet Bike. "Alright, alright..." he said with a sigh.

Johnny took his position beside the Jet Bike and grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way! Remember, there's still only three turbo boosts, with a pause between each use." The wheel structure shifted from Johnny's back to right under him, and Johnny laid flat on his stomach on the device.

Three pings sounded off around them, and then they were off. The Jet Bike raced along the highway, with Johnny right beside it. Alexander looked around from side to side, wondering how he was going to deal with the Heartless from inside the vehicle. _**We don't have much in the range department...**_ Joumae agreed a little disdainfully.

He didn't have very much time to wonder, though, because Magnum Loaders and Hot Rod Heartless were closing in from behind them. As one of the Magnum Loaders came beside Johnny and tried to attack, Johnny suddenly tilted back and did a wheelie, gunning his engine to bring the wheels back on top of the Heartless, crushing it.

Alexander, having no better idea for the moment, lifted up his left sleeve slightly, better revealing the flame glove partially hidden under his normal fingerless glove. He quickly made sure his Lockshield was changed to the Crimson Catalyst design and then snapped the fingers of his left hand. A spark traveled through the air and caused an explosion between two Hot Rod Heartless, setting them aflame and causing them to weave from side to side until they finally went tumbling off to the side of the highway.

The explosion, though seeming not to be very close to the Jet Bike, let out strong enough shockwaves to make the Jet Bike swerve a bit. Alex was forced to abandon his assault and regain control of the vehicles direction. He managed to return the Bike's path to a straight line just before he was about to bump into Johnny.

* * *

Edward leaned on a pile of rubble as the rest of the party waited for Johnny and Alexander to return. The others meandered about as well, equally bored. Though it was better than the alternative, Edward had to admit. All six of them, piling into that one seat while trying to take out the Heartless at top speed? Ridiculous.

It also gave them some time for the others to think as well. Frog was the one who started the first topic along that line. "What to do about Magus?" he questioned the open air suddenly.

Alphonse looked over at Frog from where he was sitting. "Well..." he mumbled, "if he's taking the role of some kind of Prophet, then that means he must know what's going to happen, right? I wonder if he'd seen the events at Zeal before, like Alex had?"

Crono gave Alphonse a strange look. The younger Elric immediately said, "I mean, not like from a game standpoint. But maybe he's more connected to the kingdom of Zeal than to the Mystics of the middle age era."

"If that were true," Marle cut in, "we would've seen two incarnations of Magus in the same time! The Magus we know, and the Magus who must've been there at Zeal when it was happening. But I don't think we found anyone like that there..."

Edward grunted indifferently. "That's not really what **I'm** worried about, honestly." Everyone glanced at him with questioning looks. "That Dalton guy," Edward explained as he pushed himself off the pile of rubble, "...he was in command of _Golems_, for Pete's sake. The Golem creatures could only be made with alchemy, so what are they doing under command of a resident of this world?"

"...Elaeus is part of Lavos right now, right?" Alphonse pointed out. "And if the Mammon Machine is taking power from the both of them, maybe Dalton gained some knowledge of alchemy from Elaeus somehow."

The Fullmetal Alchemist sighed. "Maybe, but... Well, when we destroyed that incomplete Philosopher's Stone in Siam-Sid, all of the Golems melted away, including Crowley." He paused for a moment to let the point sink in. "That means that the Golems were connected to that Crimson Elixir. When it was destroyed, they were destroyed too. They can't exist without such a catalyst."

"So..." Frog mused, "Dalton possess'eth such a stone? But where?"

Crono suddenly gasped, drawing attention over to him. He fished through the inventory bag frantically, before presenting Marle's pendant to the rest of the party. Everyone stared at it for a few moments as they tried to figure out what Crono was trying to say.

"Wait!" Marle exclaimed. "That Mammon Machine that powered up my pendant...! Alex said it seemed to be made out of the same red rock, right?"

Edward's eyes widened in realization. "The Guru's rock, the Dreamstone..." He shook his head in frustration. "So many damn names for the stupid stone, but it seems to do the job. The Golems are being powered by that Mammon Machine."

Alphonse stood up. "Does that mean that the Mammon Machine is another...?"

"Nah," Edward replied, cutting his brother off. "It certainly makes a good equivalent of the Crimson Elixir, but it definitely wasn't _made_ the same way. The fact that it works as the Golems' catalyst is probably a coincidence in the long run, and probably wasn't its intended use."

They suddenly heard the sound of a couple of roaring engines approaching, and quickly stepped aside as Johnny and the Jet Bike rolled into the small lot. Alex jumped down from the Jet Bike and grinned at them. "The highway's clear!" he declared. "Let's get going!"

* * *

"Challenge me anytime," Johnny called out to the party as they left the other side of Lab 32. "We'll ride like the wind, babe!"

Alexander gave him a half-hearted wave and stepped out into the harsh wasteland, the rest of the party following him. He led them south a small way and then east into a small dome structure. The sign outside the structure, nearly faded due to erosion from the sand and wind, read, "Sewer Access."

The party entered a small room with a manhole in the center of it, with a ladder leading down into a passage below. They all climbed down and entered a dark, green-stoned series of passages, overlooking many streams of sewage. As the party finished climbing down, a strange bat-like creature with one large eye and small arms and feet frantically flew over to them. "Bandits!" it cried out, keeping its distance. "Must report to Sir Krawlie!" With that, it left as abruptly as it had come.

Alex took a step forward, but suddenly flinched as he heard an eerie moaning sound. "What the...!?" He then quickly turned around to see Edward doubled over and clutching his stomach. Alex just rolled his eyes.

"Ugh!" Edward groaned, his face slightly tinted green. "The smell doesn't differ between worlds, does it...?"

Alphonse looked worriedly at his older brother. "Um... do you want me to cast a Heal spell or something, brother?" he asked tentatively.

Edward waved away the worry, slowly composing himself. "No thanks... I just gotta get used to the smell. _Again_." He took a few slow breaths, and the color returned to his face. He then looked around at the place, as if searching for the best route through the maze of passages that awaited them.

Alex took the path to the left, stepping onto a metal bridge spanning a small stream of sewage fed from a pipe in the wall. As he took that step, a couple of Air Soldier Heartless appeared above the larger body of water, ready to attack. Marle immediately loaded her crossbow and shot at one of them. The bolt stabbed into the Air Soldier and pinned it to the wall. Crono used a Lightning spell that zapped that Heartless while it squirmed, destroying it.

Frog extended his amphibian tongue and grabbed the other Heartless, drawing it in before he retracted his tongue and slashed at the Heartless. Alexander snapped the fingers of his flame glove, blowing up the Air Soldier and making it fade into darkness.

As the party took a moment to relax, they heard voices around the corner of the passage. They came to the corner of the walkway and looked to the side, where they saw two strange yellow tadpole creatures conversing, gazing at a space spanning two platforms of the sewer walkways. "There was a bridge here!" one of them exclaimed. "I **saw** it, _rrrribit_!"

The other one turned away indignantly. "Fool! _Grrribit_! There's nothing here!"

"B...But it's true, _ribbit_..." the first mumbled quietly, looking at the cobblestone at its feet.

The second tadpole thing turned around and saw the party. Panicking, it shouted, "Someone's coming! Let's scram, _grribbit_!" The two creatures quickly ran toward the end of the platform and jumped into a manhole leading deeper into the sewers.

With the road clear, the six fighters walked to the spot the two creatures had been studying. Frog grunted upon the sight of it. On each platform, directly across from each other, was a small metal plate that would've fed into a bridge similar to the one they'd just crossed.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Lemme guess... There's a switch deeper in the sewers, and we'll have to go there and backtrack all the way back here before moving on?"

Alex chuckled. "You seem to be getting the hang of these RPGs, Ed." The fellow alchemist only grumbled something incoherent as the party approached the manhole the strangers had jumped into. There was a ladder to allow access to and from the second level of the sewers.

Marle shuddered, looking back and forth at the surroundings nervously. "This is a tad on the spooky side..." she admitted. Frog let out an amused ribbit, but said nothing in addition.

The party climbed down the ladder and entered the second level at a point where the path split in two. They first went to the right, which led across a bridge onto a platform with a small damp booklet laying on the ground. Edward raised an eyebrow and picked up the small book. "It's a diary," he said curiously, opening up the book to the end. "Here's the last page. ..._It's all over. The dark creatures attack if I make even the slightest noise. I'd rather have my gums scraped than have to fight these fiends._"

The whole group was silent for a few moments. Then, all at once, they made _shush_ing motions to each other, communicating that they weren't to make the slightest noise if they wanted to avoid a battle. The party doubled back and started walking along the narrow winding path to the other side of the ladder. The stone path led all over the room, making wild turns almost at random through the sewage reservoir until it reached the next large platform.

At the first turn, they saw a small yellow cat sitting near the edge of the path, looking rather lonely. Alex cringed, knowing this image would be almost too much for Alphonse to take. Edward also became aware of this, it seemed, because he helped in restraining the armored soul as they _slowly_ walked past the cat and made their way around the next couple of corners.

Then, after a couple of longer stretches, they found a soda can next to a small garbage bin. Marle walked toward it with a small smile, probably wanting to see if she could kick it into the can in one shot. But Alexander held out an arm to block her path and gestured toward the can, trying to indicate that the aluminum would make a loud enough clatter to attract unwelcome attention.

Further on, they found what seemed to be a slightly moldy block of cheddar cheese just sitting on the stone floor. Alex made sure to watch his step when moving around it, not wanting to incur the wrath of any sewer rats that had their minds on that cheese. A single squeak would bring the entire effort crashing down around their heads. The others took the same care to avoid the now-foreboding morsel.

Lastly, as they neared the small metal bridge leading to the end of that nightmare, they found a save point floating to the side. ...They just walked right past it. After crossing the bridge, they found a ladder leading back up to the first level, which they immediately climbed.

As soon as they reentered the main sewer passageways, a couple of Bookmaster Heartless appeared in front of them. Alex, his voice hoarse at first from restraining himself for so long, shouted, "These guys are immune to magic and can dish out fairly heavy damage, so watch out!"

As if in response, one of the Bookmasters lifted its large book into the air and hurled it toward one of the party members, making it crash into the ground where Frog had been moments before. The frog knight immediately unsheathed the Masamune and jumped up into the air, then stabbed into the Heartless's book with his sword and kicked at the creature's main body. While it was still pinned like this, Alphonse closed in and kicked it a couple of times before it disappeared and released a heart.

The other Bookmaster summoned a couple of small Blizzard crystals and shot them, which knocked into Alexander and Marle and threw them back. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the ground, transmuting a couple of katanas from the stone. The blond alchemist spun sideways and slashed at the Bookmaster repeatedly with his dual katanas. Crono then closed in with his own weapon and spun around furiously with it, using his Cyclone technique to finish off the Heartless.

The party traveled forward, only to find that they were now on the opposite platform of the missing bridge they had studied earlier. At a loss of what to do, they started looking around. There was a bridge that led to a small, useless platform to the side, and there was another gap near the manhole they'd just exited that was also missing a bridge.

"Hey, look!" Marle exclaimed, gesturing toward a part of the wall she was investigating. There was a small corridor there, almost unnoticeable with a simple sweeping search due to how narrow it was. Edward, naturally, was voted to go through the gap and see what was on the other side. Alex could've sworn he saw a vein pulsing in the alchemist's forehead when the decision had been made.

Edward walked through the small corridor and exited into a small section of stone next to a drain pipe. On the other side of the gap he faced was a door. And to his left, there seemed to be some kind of large switch in the wall with a red light next to it. Edward lifted the switch up, the light turned green, and the door on the other side of the gap opened. The Fullmetal Alchemist quickly ran back through the corridor and told the others what he'd found.

Alexander nodded, and gestured toward the end of the path ahead past the lack of a bridge. He'd found that there was a rather small path leading around to the back of that door, but it was so narrow that there was a danger of falling into the sewage. Still, the party walked along the wall that way and found the other end of the door Edward had just opened.

As soon as they walked past the opened door, they looked ahead to a separate section of the sewers where they found the two strange tadpole creatures conversing yet again. One of them was standing in front of another switch, across from the second gap that was missing a bridge. "Press the switch," the first one – apparently an underling to the second – stated, "and the bridge opens, _ribbit_!"

The boss of the two grumbled something and then ordered, "So, switch on, _gribbit_!"

The underling moved toward the switch and jumped up to it, trying to lift the switch to the ON position. But even if he jumped, he didn't get anywhere near the switch. "_Riiiiiiiiibit_!" it groaned as it continued to fail in its efforts. "It's out of reach, _ribbit_!"

The boss growled something again and spat, "And you call yourself a frog, _ribbit_, _**gribbit**_!"

Alexander was not the only one who stole a glance toward Frog, who almost looked highly offended by the comedy playing out before them.

Suddenly, the boss tadpole ran to the side until he got a good view of the party. Quickly panicking, it shouted, "Someone's coming! Let's scram, _grribbit_!" The two tadpoles quickly ran off, leaving most of the party with strangely bemused states of mind.

The party rounded a couple of corners and crossed a bridge to a small platform, from which they turned right and crossed onto a much larger area. There to meet them was the strange bat guard creature from before along with a rather large insect-like creature.

This stranger seemed to be a cross between a scorpion and a slug, with spike appendages along its lower segmented body and its sides, but with two large pudgy arms with three-clawed hands. Its eyes shone a dull green, and there was a large curved spike coming out from the tail. On top of that, its purple tongue hung out a good foot and a half from its mouth. But, then again, it didn't have much height to it. Perhaps a tiny bit shorter than Alphonse.

The guard reported, "The six of them are almost here!" The creature it was reporting to was apparently the Sir Krawlie it had mentioned before.

Krawlie angrily declared in his deep voice, "Coming through the sewer like they own it! They must have a death wish! We shall teach them a lesson!"

"Let's show 'em," the guard agreed with a laugh. "**Heehee**!"

Sir Krawlie started clapping its hands together with crushing force, as if in practice. "Just let them come through here!" he continued, oblivious to the fact that the party was already on the same platform as them. "They'll be chopped liver!"

"Hahahahahaha!" the guard cackled, equally oblivious. "Heeheeheeheehee!"  
"Harharharhar!" Sir Krawlie added to the mix.  
"**Hahahahaha**!" the guard laughed insanely at the top of its lungs.  
"**Heeeeheeeeheee**!" was Sir Krawlie's addition, clearly riding the wave his guard had created.

Edward cleared his throat rather loudly, cutting short the cycle of maniacal laughs. "Uh, _hello_?" he muttered tersely. "We're **right here**."

The guard let out a surprised yelp and flew away from the scene. Krawlie just mumbled, "Huh?" as the party surrounded him and got into fighting stances.

Alexander grinned and summoned the Lightning Guard Lockshield. "Hah!" he chortled. "This guy's hardly even a boss. A couple of good dual techs will take him down easy."

Krawlie snarled and muttered, "I'll shred ya."

"Al, here we go!" Edward suddenly shouted. He transmuted a gigantic spiked pillar from the ground, which Alphonse took hold of. Everyone ducked as Alphonse spun around quickly with the pillar, almost creating a small whirlwind as he bashed Krawlie repeatedly. The insect creature was eventually thrown against the far wall.

"Crono, Frog!" Alex shouted. "Let's get a couple of lightning rods in that thing, shall we?" Crono and Frog immediately nodded and brandished their swords. The two warriors ran toward Krawlie and stabbed their swords into the segments of Krawlie's back, making the creature howl in pain. Alex and Crono then summoned up their magics, creating Lightning bolts that struck the twin swords, zapping Krawlie twofold through the metal.

As Frog and Crono retrieved their swords, the room began to shake slightly as Krawlie was overtaken by a white light. The monster slowly became transparent before it finally faded out of existence.

Edward sighed as he transmuted the surroundings back to normal. "Alright, I'm ready to get out of this stinking sewer, myself... But maybe that's just me."

* * *

The party finally left the sewers, reentering the wasteland on the outside and noticing that they were on the continent just south of Laboratory 32. There was a rather large dome further to the south of them, so that's where they headed. The sign outside read, "Keeper's Dome."

As soon as they entered the dusty dome, they walked along some of the small metal platforms until they reached a large computer terminal. There was a strange Nu-like creature standing in front of it, snoring. Alphonse shook it awake, but when the creature came to, it only said, "Please, do not disturb my slumber," before going right back to snoring.

The party moved on around the first large terminal, reaching the back of the main room. There were two smaller terminals on either side of the room, but between them was a small corridor leading to what they were looking for in the first place. An obsidian door with Zeal's crest emblazoned on it. Crono pulled out the pendant and held it up to the door.

A bright light shone through the room as the pendant shimmered with its own internal light. The obsidian door slowly lifted into the wall above it, revealing a passage leading deeper into the dome. They entered the next room, finding a long winding path that went to the right corners of the room before heading back to the left side of the room, where there was another doorway. They took a few steps, but then they heard a strange voice. It sounded like a recording. _"Huh...?"_

As they continued along the path, the voice continued speaking to them. _"To those who opened the door... I am Belthasar, the Guru of Reason. I once lived in the Kingdom of Zeal. A great disaster in Zeal somehow threw me into this era. To my surprise, Lavos and Elaeus exist here, and, I suspect, other periods as well. Aeons ago, Lavos descended from the heavens. Burrowing deep into the world's core and dragging Elaeus along with him, they began to consume our planet's energy, and grow stronger."_

_"Lavos and Elaeus disappeared briefly when they were summoned away by a mighty wizard who lived in Guardia, in the year 600. In 1999, Lavos and Elaeus claim this area, and reign from high atop Death Peak. Lavos continues to replicate... like a giant parasite, he is consuming our world. And Elaeus simply oversees the effects, apparently waiting for something to confront him."_

_"Forced to live here, I continued to conduct research on Elaeus and Lavos. But I am growing old. And it's impossible to keep sane in such trying times. So before I lose it completely, I shall safeguard my data, and my ultimate creation..."_

_"How I long to return home... But I have grown frail... So you... __**you**__, who have opened the door! I leave things in your hands. Only by mastering time, itself, do you stand a chance against Lavos and Elaeus."_

_"The odds will be against you... But you are true heroes. The world is in your hands. Open, now, the last door, and take what you find there. My last invention... My 'Wings of Time'..."_

By this point, the party had found another obsidian door, and the recording had ended. "Mastering time itself, huh?" Edward echoed thoughtfully as Crono held up the pendant to the door. The pendant shimmered for a moment, and the door opened.

They entered the large room ahead of them, and the entire party (including Alexander) was amazed at the spectacle before them. It looked like a rather large pod, made out of white metal with a golden trim. There was a large golden fin coming off the top from just behind the cockpit, which had a dome covering it. The party moved all the way around it, inspecting the machine from the strange machinery at the front to the engines at the back. The invention was almost symmetrical from the front to the back.

Frog blinked a couple of times. "This... moves through time?" he inferred hesitantly.

Marle was equally dumbstruck. "Wow... this is amazing... How do you tell the front from the back?"

Still, they couldn't figure out how to work the thing, so they started walking back out of the room... Until their path was blocked by an odd rectangular metal thing moving toward them. They party quickly moved aside, and they saw that it was just the Nu-like thing pushing a set of seats toward the machine.

The strange creature grinned at them. "Scared you, didn't I? It's me... **Belthasar**! I copied my memory into this thing. What do you think?" Before anyone could answer, he continued, "Anyway, there's something I need to explain."

Alex looked toward the block of seats that the creature had prepared. Instead of the usual three seats in the game, there were six seats in two rows of three. Alex guessed that the cockpit would be equally accommodating. Lucky.

"Namely," the Belthasar creature stated, cutting off Alex's thoughts, "how to transcend time! You can use the time gauge to select an era, then the button right next to it to activate the warp. ...Oh, yeah! Before you go, why don't you–" The creature suddenly closed its eyes and started snoring for a few moments.

Just as suddenly, it woke up and said without missing a beat, "...name my time machine!"

Alexander grinned. "Alright..." He looked toward the others and said, "How does the 'Epoch' sound?" He got a generally positive reply to that suggestion, and he nodded toward the strange creature.

Belthasar nodded back and gestured toward the seats. "Hop aboard!" The six party members quickly got into their seats, with Alex at the foremost seat and the Elrics to the sides of him, while the Chrono Trigger party members got into the back seats. Alex noted that it was a fair bit roomier in the cockpit than he had first imagined by seeing it in the game. There was a good amount of room, even for Alphonse to fit in without being cramped.

The Belthasar creature mumbled something before going back to sleep. Marle grinned and said, "Well, I guess we'll just take off, then!"

Alex looked toward the controls, quickly finding the time gauge. It was a C-shaped dial that had points connecting to each major era of time, going from the future to the apocalypse to the present, all the way down to the prehistoric era. He could even push it past the point of the future to set the time gauge to the End of Time.

Thinking quickly, he set the dial toward the third to lowest point, which created a readout on a small screen next to it: **12000 B.C. – Dark Ages**.

With great aplomb, Alexander mashed the large red button sitting next to the time gauge. A bright light surrounded the Epoch, and it started to move forward at high speeds. It moved so quickly that the rest of the room seemed to stretch out forever...

And suddenly, it looked like they were flying through a sea of flame, startling the entire party. They were moving so fast that they were catching fire! "Eeeeeek!!" Marle screeched.

"Whoa!" Frog exclaimed.

"**Woohoo!!!**" Alex couldn't help but shout out as the Epoch sailed through time, and his comrades simply looked at him with annoyed expressions.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	22. The Mountain of Woe

Chapter 21  
The Mountain of Woe

The bright light surrounding the Epoch and the fiery passing through time ended almost as quickly as it had started. The six fighters inside the vehicle, currently being Alexander, Edward, Alphonse, Crono, Marle, and Frog, were finally able to see their surroundings as the Epoch appeared in the Dark Ages. They were in the snowy wasteland once again, right in front of the cave with the sealed Gate in it.

The bubble dome covering the cockpit slowly opened up with a faint hissing sound, and the party climbed out of the Epoch. As the Epoch closed its cockpit automatically, Frog faced Alex and asked, "We shalt ascend to Zeal by the Skyway again, Alexander?"

Alex was about to answer, but Alphonse got to the point first. "No... Remember what Schala said when she released us?" the younger Elric reminded them. "We need to find Melchior at the 'Mountain of Woe', wherever that is."

"M-Melchior?" Marle repeated, shivering due to her lack of heavy clothing in their current environment. "D-Did she really s-say Melchior? That g-guy from Medina in _our_ t-time?"

"That's a later Melchior," Alexander explained, finally getting a chance to speak. "Like Belthasar, Melchior was one of the Gurus that was thrown into different epochs after the events here at Zeal." Turning toward the west, he said, "Anyway, let's not waste any time. The Mountain of Woe is to the northwest of here."

And so the party moved through the snowstorm west along the continent, and then to the north. As they approached their destination, they could see the outline of a mountain on the horizon, but they couldn't see anything more than a silhouette at their distance. They finally ended up at the end of a peninsula, but there was no path connecting to the mountain ahead.

Crono looked beyond the frozen sea and gasped. The others looked with him, and found themselves reacting similarly. A good hundred feet above the small island ahead of them, the mountain they were seeking was... _floating_. What was even more strange was the huge chain that was connected to the base of the floating mount, almost as if it would float away if the chain wasn't holding it down.

The chain seemed to extend deep underground, suggesting that there was some kind of underground path leading to that chain. They moved back a little, and found a small hut sitting near the end of the peninsula. Inside the hut was a downward set of stone stairs leading into some kind of cave. The party, with no other leads available, entered.

* * *

The party found a ladder in the first room, which led up to another floor which seemed to be made out of flattened tree roots. They climbed the ladder and stood on that second floor, finding it to be rather sturdy. Then they walked through a cave passage to the left, and came into a rather large series of cave passages, connected to the one large room they were currently in.

There were also _people_ there. Though they certainly weren't of the same class that the people of Zeal flaunted. These people wore raggedy clothes, looked dirty and worn out, and had rather depressed expressions.

The man standing near the passage the party had just used looked at them and said, "This is Algetty, the village of the Earthbound Ones." Alex nodded and led the way onward.

Algetty as a village was completely within this cave, in which there were five floors connected by ladders and separated by the same undergrowth they'd seen in the previous room. There were one or two cave "rooms" on each floor. The room on the first floor had a man selling goods in it, so Alex led them there first.

With their funds automatically increasing with each enemy defeated, Alex's wallet had far too many gold pieces to normally fit such a small package. _**The wonders of 'Etherspace', eh?**_ With it, they were easily able to buy a Demon Edge katana for Crono, a Comet Arrow crossbow for Marle, a Megablast gun for Lucca, and a Megaton Arm for Robo. There was also a Flash Blade broadsword that Frog could use, but the deformed knight insisted that he keep the Masamune, which was understandable to Alexander.

After sending the extra weapons to the missing party members at the End of Time, and selling the old weapons, the party moved back into the main room. "The path we're looking for is at the bottom floor," Alex told his comrades. "There's not really much inbetween, unless you guys want some more exposition."

"Well, can't you just give us whatever info we need?" Edward asked pointedly. "I'd like to understand what's going on here, sure, but I don't want to waste time."

Alex smirked at the reasoning and started to explain. The Earthbound Ones were cast out of Zeal because they didn't have magical abilities, unlike the Enlightened Ones. That was the discrimination present in this era. The two groups had lived as one in the past, but the segregation happened when the kingdom of Zeal was officially established. Nowadays, only the three Gurus and Schala had the presence of mind to treat the Earthbound Ones as equals. And for that, along with other disagreements, the Gurus were cast away or imprisoned, and Schala was given no respect, though she was kept for her abilities.

"Anyway," Alex continued, winding down from his explanation, "we need to go through a beast cave in order to get to the base of the mountain, so we'd better get down there. Expect a fair bit of fighting."

"Of course," Marle grumbled from the back of the group. "This is a fighting game; why should we expect anything less?"

* * *

"This hole leads to the Beasts' nest," the man on the bottom floor of Algetty said, pointing toward the passageway on his left. "Through the nest you'll reach the place of chains, which anchors the Mountain of Woe."

The party acknowledged this information and walked into that section of the cave, barely noticing the shocked expressions from the Earthbound people as they did so. They entered a large clearing with a wide path to the left of them, which they followed for a bit. It led to a fork in the path, but they weren't allowed to choose quite yet. A Beast came from both paths, moving toward the party with an obvious intent to attack.

The Beasts were fairly strange-looking creatures. Basically, they were a cross between a bear and a rhinoceros. They had the posture of a bear on all fours, along with the size and the claws. They had the rough hide of a rhinoceros (though it was mostly golden and blue in color), and they had two horns protruding from their skulls.

_**These things make the Beast **_**we****_ know look friendly,_** Joumae commented, eliciting a groan of annoyance from Alexander, accompanied by rolling eyes.

"I want to get through this quickly," Alex said to the others as he summoned his Lockshield. "How about I use a Drive Form?"

Edward shrugged, but remained wary of the creatures advancing toward them. "Whatever works for us."

Alexander nodded and shouted, "_Power_!" Light shot out from his clothes as his body convulsed. When the light faded, Crono and Edward had disappeared. Alex's garments were a golden color, and the Heartless Seal floated near his right hand while the Crimson Catalyst was gripped in his left. He had chosen Master Form this time.

The Beasts, enraged by the near-blinding flash of light, roared and charged at Alexander. Alex jumped and used an Aerial Dodge to soar over the creatures. He then pointed the Heartless Seal at the Beasts and intoned, "_Magnega_!" An orb of magnetic energy appeared near the shield, and the Beasts stopped in their tracks as they were drawn back toward it. Still, they managed to barely resist the pull of the force... until Alphonse closed in on them and punched each of them back, shattering their resistances and sending them careening toward the Magnega spell. By this time, though, the spell had stopped.

As the Beasts recovered, Frog shouted, "Marle! Aid me in this technique!" as he started to summon his Water magic. Marle nodded and began to summon her Ice magic in turn. Frog summoned a bubble of water, while Marle created large ice crystals within that bubble. There was an intense moment of silence as the ice cooled down the water immensely, and then the bubble burst, sending a wave of ice-cold water crashing into the Beasts. To finish them off, Alex casted a triple-dose of Thundaga onto the creatures, which was more than enough to defeat them.

The party moved on with Alexander running ahead. After all, he had only a limited time to attack in this form, though the time would get longer as he used it more often. But right now, the time wasn't all that much. They moved on down the left path after the fork in the road, because the right one led to a dead end.

They came to another clearing leading to a small set of stairs, but there were two more Beasts lying in wait for them near the stairs. Alex charged first into the impending battle, dragging the Crimson Catalyst against the ground. A transmutation circle suddenly appeared under the Beasts, and a mass of Stonespikes rose up from underneath them, nearly impaling them. Alex then jumped inbetween the Beasts and started spinning around with his Lockshields out, slashing the Beasts over and over again until he finished with bashing the ground with his shields, creating a shockwave that defeated the monsters.

Alex wasted to time in climbing up the stairs; he could feel his Drive power ebbing away already. They came to the final clearing in the cave, which contained two more Beasts whose skins were blue and red rather than the usual golden. They were guarding the very base of the chain that was holding the Mountain of Woe. The chain was moss-ridden, and apparently bound to a large root that was sticking up through the stone in the back of the cave.

A mud-brown Imp walked down the chain and jumped onto the root, sticking his tongue out at the party. "You can't pass through here!" it declared. The Blue and Red Beasts in front of him roared in response, and looked ready to attack.

"That Mud Imp is the leader!" Alexander shouted as the rest of the party brought out their weapons. "If it goes down, the rest go along with it!" That being said, Alex used another Aerial Dodge to sail over the Beasts and toward the Mud Imp. The Imp looked worried for only a second, and then threw a strange pouch at Alexander. The pouch collided with Alex, and sprayed a cloud of gray smoke into his face.

Alex suddenly felt incredibly drowsy as the smoke entered his system. _**Sleeping gas...?**_ Joumae wondered aloud, but Alexander fell asleep before he could answer mentally. He landed right on the root, which caught him in the stomach and forced a groan of pain out of him. Alex's Drive ended, and Crono and Edward appeared beside him, unaffected by the sleeping effect. Edward scowled as Alex began to snore from his awkward sleeping arrangement, and the Mud Imp just looked surprised by the sudden appearance of the two fighters.

"Geez, one little status ailment and you go down like a rock," Edward muttered, pushing Alex behind the root and out of the way. Alexander landed with a thump onto the stone below, but kept on sleeping. Meanwhile, Edward ran back to the party, which was busy dealing with the Beasts. "Hey Al! Give me a hand here!"

"Okay!" Alphonse shouted back, running over to his older brother. Alphonse gave Edward a boost into the air, and Edward clapped his hands, which began to glow with orange sparks. The Fullmetal Alchemist then landed on the ground and transmuted the rock floor. Large stone fists rose up from the ground, punching the Beasts and the Mud Imp into the air a couple of times. The Mud Imp, when it finally regained its senses, tried to use a restorative item to heal all of them, but Crono then rushed in and slashed it four times in the same second with his Confuse technique.

The Mud Imp faded away in a red light. The Red and Blue Beasts let out a roar as they too faded away. The rest of the party relaxed and regrouped, with the exception of the snoozing Alex. "So... we've reached the chain," Marle stated. "_Now_ what do we do?"

Crono thought silently for a moment, but then walked over to the chain. He stepped onto one link and grabbed onto another further ahead. After trusting his whole weight to the links, he slowly started to climb.

"You're kiddin' me," Edward moaned as they all approached to watch this feat. "You've gotta be! That mountain has to be a hundred feet off the ground!! And we're supposed to climb this thing all the way up!?"

Alphonse got onto the chain and hesitantly began to climb, until he found out the process was rather simple. "With all the weight it's holding down, it seems to be fairly sturdy. It's not that hard to climb."

"Besides," Frog added, also beginning to climb, "'tis our only option."

Edward sighed and muttered something under his breath, and finally started to climb the chain along with the others. Marle was the last one to start climbing, but she hesitated and looked back at Alexander. Then she just shrugged to herself and kept climbing.

* * *

"And now, for something completely different," Joumae muttered to himself. His voice echoed through the void that surrounded Alexander's Station of Awakening, which was just about the only physical manifestation in Alex's being where Joumae had any jurisdiction. Joumae sighed and added, "I _wish_."

There was not much to do, being the counterpart of Alexander. Even though he was technically the will of the Lockshield, the Lockshield was a weapon that had been forged from the darkness in the boy's heart, given to him by the forces that governed the Kingdom Hearts universe. Joumae was a placeholder at best. Alexander was the real Lockshield Master in the long run.

Joumae sighed again, and started to pace around the perimeter of the Station. It was so darn boring. There were times where Alex was feeling particularly moody, and that would spawn Heartless in the Station, but that was about it. _Well, no wonder I make an impression as a sarcastic bastard,_ Joumae thought to himself. _I've got nothing else to __**be**_

He missed traveling with Sora and Kairi. In that case, he would be able to pass the time talking with Roxas and Naminè while the others were busy. But not now, obviously. No, there wasn't a single counterpart to be found in any other game universe.

A strange dense fog drifted onto the Station, and Joumae stopped pacing. Alexander was falling asleep. "Sleeping gas...?" he wondered aloud, seeing if he would get a response from Alex. But the fog completely settled in, and Joumae heard no response. He grinned a little, and decided that it was time for a little exploring.

The Station dissolved around him, and he found himself in dark nothingness again. He then closed his eyes and started searching through Alex's thoughts. If he did this while Alex was conscious, the boy could easily just change his train of thought to avoid the counterpart. But now Alexander's thoughts and plans were completely unguarded.

Joumae grinned wider. "So, Alex... What are you planning for the future? Any big changes you're gonna make...?" He stopped talking to himself when he found a large concentration point in Alex's thoughts, and focused in on it. Since he was a secondary personality, it was hard to see imagined images clearly, but he could do well enough.

"Ah..." Joumae mumbled as he looked through the images and words. "So that's... And that..." His eyes suddenly shot open and he gasped in surprise. "...the **hell!?**" He looked through the section again, and found the exact same thing that had disturbed him. "You've gotta be..."

He quickly got out of that section and left Alex's mind, returning to the Interference's heart. As the Station of Awakening materialized around him, he growled, "So **that's** how it's gonna be, huh? And they call _me_ the bastard..."

And the sad thing was, he knew that there was no way he could persuade Alex to do otherwise. This was something that was firmly set in the young man's mind. Joumae took a deep breath to relax and started to concentrate. He was only a counterpart, but there were still a couple of things he could do to prepare for what was to come...

* * *

Alexander was suddenly shaken awake by a rumbling in the ground he was laying on. He quickly got up and leaned on the large root sticking out of the ground. Morning amnesia kicked in as it usually does when one awakens, forcing Alex to make an effort to remember what had happened before he'd fallen asleep.

It came back to him slowly... _Chrono Trigger... Mountain of Woe... Master Form... Mud Imp... Sleep bomb..._ The boy shook his head, and the motions countering the shaking of the ground gave him a small headache. Now finally reaching full wakefulness, Alexander looked around and tried to figure out what was going on. He was currently along, and the chain above him seemed to be shaking more violently than the ground was.

Three figures were running toward him, he suddenly realized. All Earthbound Ones. A man, a woman, and a small boy. The man glanced back and forth worriedly, mainly focusing on the shaking chain. After a few moments, the child ran over to the woman and cried out, "Mommy, the mountain's gonna fall!"

"_What!?_" Alexander yelled in surprise. The surprise was partially due to the fact that the mountain floating above them was suddenly about to _not_ be floating above them, but props were due to the fact that he'd slept for a quite a while, and his comrades had deserted him to go on ahead. Understandable, but still...

"Let's go!" the man ordered, leading his family out of the cave. Alexander took a moment to assure his footing, and ran after them quickly, using his Quick Run to speed up.

* * *

Fifty feet above them, the Mountain of Woe tugged against the chains binding it, until the chain suddenly shattered into its sole links.

The force that had once held the mountain down sent it into the air for a few moments, where it hovered almost ominously... until it finally started hurtling toward the shore of the island below. There was a huge crash, and the Beasts' lair caved in.

* * *

Somehow, the party had managed to escape before the disconnection happened, bringing along with them Melchior the Guru of Life, who had been imprisoned at the heart of the mountain. They met later in Algetty's Elder's cave room to discuss current events.

Melchior paced back and forth thoughtfully. "Lavos and Elaeus sleep deep underground, while consuming the energy of this planet. If the Mammon Machine is brought closer to him, he may awaken!" He stopped pacing and gripped his cane tightly. "We must hurry before it's too late!"

Alexander had been told that Melchior was already informed of the Mammon Machine's relocation to the Ocean Palace, and the Guru had explained that Queen Zeal's degradation was related to how much power the Machine had absorbed. So he just nodded.

An Earthbound man walked into the room and faced the Elder, who was on the other side of the small table in the room. "Elder!" the man shouted. "Schala is here!"

"What?" Melchior said incredulously. "Schala's _here_!?"

The man moved aside as Schala slowly walked into the Elder's room, followed by Janus. Janus moved to the side of the room and inspected the place, while the Elder approached Schala. "Miss Schala..." the elder said, "why have you come to such a miserable place?"

"Stop degrading yourselves!" Schala insisted. "We Enlightened Ones were once the same as you. The only difference is that we are under Elaeus's control..." Schala walked around the table and moved toward Melchior.

From the side, Janus grumbled, "What a filthy hovel." This caused Joumae to snicker a bit.

"Melchior..." Schala said, ignoring her younger brother's statement. "After the Mountain of Woe fell, I thought I would find you here!"

"Is it safe for you to leave the palace?" Melchior asked worriedly.

"That no longer matters!" Schala argued. "The Ocean Palace is now operational!"

Melchior gasped, and the entire party felt a collective sense of dread. "Then all is lost!" the Guru cried out.

Schala's face took on a small smile, and she turned away. "But without me, the Mammon Machine won't work. I have turned my back on that evil device!" She stayed silent for a moment, and then turned toward the party. "I've kept the Skyway open. Hurry! You must stop... my mother!"

"Why don't we keep it right there..." a male voice suggested from outside the room.

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, who slowly came into the room. Schala gasped. "Dalton!"

Dalton shook his head in mock condescension. "Tsk, tsk, my dear. Your presence is required elsewhere!" he said in his mocking tone.

Melchior scowled and moved forward defiantly. "Dalton! Leave her alone!"

"Ah!" Dalton cried out, and began to cackle insanely for a few moments. "The geezer speaks!" His mirth disappeared in an instant, and suddenly he was dead serious. "_Silence_, old man!" With a wave of his hand, a fireball was conjured and sent toward Melchior.

The old man took the full force of the blow and was thrown into a cupboard in the back of the cave. "Argh!" he cried out in pain, but he didn't seem to be gravely injured. _**Awfully spry for his age...**_

Dalton jumped over the table and backhanded Schala, who fell down unconscious into Dalton's grip. "You'll come to the Ocean Palace with me," he muttered. To the others, he said, "Do anything funny, and Schala's dust. Got it?"

"Schala!" Janus shouted as he ran toward Dalton.

The Enlightened official kicked the boy away, sending Janus into the side wall. He started to laugh, saying, "The Queen's children all seem to have a problem with authority, don't they?"

The party quickly took fighting stances, and Dalton immediately noticed this. "Stay back," he warned. "The life of this woman means nothing to me!"

"Oh, _really_?" Alex scoffed, keeping a firm grip on his Lightning Guard. "Schala's the only key to making the Mammon Machine work. Queen Zeal will have you ripped to _shreds_ if she finds out her only link has been destroyed!"

Dalton faltered for a moment as he considered this, and that's what Alex had been going for. He charged forward with his Lockshield at the ready, but Dalton quickly got a hold of himself in time. With a large sweep of his hand, a bright flash filled the whole room. When the light was gone, it was clear to see that Dalton, Schala, and Janus had all disappeared.

Melchior sighed and turned toward the wall, looking as glum as a man should be when faced with the end of the world. The party all shared a glance, and moved toward the Guru. Frog shouted, "Melchior!"

The old man didn't say anything for a moment, but finally replied, "I'm alright." Turning toward them, he added, "But we must save Schala, or else..."

The Elder came around the table and looked upon Melchior with a disbelieving expression. "Impossible! Even though it's coming from **you**, Melchior..."

"If the Queen is allowed to fulfill her scheme," Melchior interjected, "all life as we know it... is doomed!"

There was a resounding silence as they all were faced with the gravity of the situation. But, at long last, it was Crono who approached Melchior with determination in his eyes. Crono shook his head in defiance, and Melchior looked over to him. "You're willing to challenge the Queen?"

Crono nodded vigorously. Edward nodded as well, adding, "Hey, we've got the sorcery required to pull this thing off! And there's certainly strength in our numbers."

Melchior smiled a little and held his cane with both hands. "You've done so much for us... and I don't even know your names!"

Marle giggled. "You'll find out soon enough!"

Alphonse looked at Marle and quietly added, "Well... if thirteen thousand years is 'soon'..."

"What **are** you talking about?" Melchior demanded.

Frog grinned and looked toward Crono. "Crono, let us be on our way!" he declared. The party was now all fired up, ready to get the show on the road.

Just as it looked like they were ready to make their dramatic exit, Melchior said, "Wait, take this with you!" He procured a ruby knife from his coat and held it out to Edward. "It's made from the same red stone as the Mammon Machine. With it, you can destroy the Machine!"

Edward held the knife in his hands and stared at it with curiosity. This knife was made out of the same crimson stone? The same Crimson Elixir? In a way, that made some sense. He nodded at Melchior and said, "Alright, you can count on us."

_**It's not like there's anyone else,**_ Joumae pointed out, and Alex couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	23. The Ocean Palace

Chapter 22  
The Ocean Palace

The party quickly left Algetty and made their way back to the kingdom of Zeal. They wasted no time, all of them being aware of the gravity of their current situation. If they didn't get to the heart of the Ocean Palace in time before Queen Zeal made Schala activate the Mammon Machine, then the world was pretty much doomed. And not much motivates a person like having the fate of an entire world resting in that person's hands.

_**This gets a little tiresome after a while,**_ Joumae commented with a sigh in Alex's mind. _**Saving the world... Making rash decisions like any protagonist does... Can't we have a change of pace for once?**_

As usual, Alexander did his best to ignore the dark counterpart.

Since their path started near the cave they'd come from last time, their path to the palace was pretty much the same as it was last time. Southeast to the Skyway that led to Enhasa's sky continent, then straight to the Land Bridge back down to the surface. From there, northwest to the next Skyway to the main continent of Zeal's sky kingdom.

After passing Kajar, they climbed the mountain of the floating isle by using the teleportation caves. Finally, they managed to reach the Zeal palace. They made no pretense of a friendly visit upon arrival, either; they just barreled through the main hall, while all of the Enlightened Ones in the building watched with bewildered looks.

The party ran through the hall leading to the throne room. They passed two Nus standing on the stairs, as well as the two Enlightened women in blue robes that had been standing guard there last time. "The Queen took Schala with her to the Ocean Palace," one of them said to the party as they ran by. "We Enlightened Ones will finally attain immortality."

"I hate random exposition!" Edward declared as they passed through the small doorway leading into the throne room. All six of them spread out through the room warily, looking for what they were supposed to find next.

"Phooey!" they heard a voice grumble, and they looked up to the throne to see Dalton standing on the raised platform. Judging by his expression, he was rather pissed off. "Why is the Prophet allowed inside while _I'm_ stuck with guard duty!?"

As the party spread out into a battle formation, Dalton finally noticed them. His scowl disappeared, and suddenly he was all business again. "Ha! There you are..." He paused for a moment to clear his throat, and declared to the adventurers, "I let the Prophet go, knowing he'd mess up sooner or later."

_**Oh, sure...**_ Joumae said. **_It couldn't _possibly_ be true that you just got stuck with the crappy job. No, you planned it all along... Classic backstabbing suck-up._**

"But I've no use for _you_ anymore," Dalton added, pointing at the six fighters in a authoritative, judgmental way. The statement caused Alex to hear another groan from Joumae. Meanwhile, Dalton leaped off the throne and landed right in front of the set of steps in front of the throne. Flinging his cape back behind him dramatically, he shouted, "You're history!!"

The party assumed fighting stances, and Dalton floated into the air. "Go ahead, try and attack...!" he taunted them. Edward immediately obliged, charging forward with his armblade already transmuted. He swung at Dalton, but the man only had to levitate a little higher to avoid the attack. "You'll have to try harder than that, _shorty_..."

A small section of veins started to pulse erratically in Edward's forehead as the young alchemist's face contorted into an evil grimace. "Who're you callin' 'shorty'...?" he demanded in a low, sinister voice.

Dalton chuckled. "Heh. _You_, of course! Who the heck else is there, ya _shorty_!?" he taunted him from the air, at a height which he thought was safe.

Alex, Crono, Alphonse, Marle, and Frog all exchanged a silent, nervous glance as Dalton sneered at the alchemist. Something within Edward snapped as the word "shorty" echoed throughout the hall. He suddenly leaped an incredible distance, grabbed onto Dalton's cape, and tugged him down so that he was right in Edward's face. Alexander definitely didn't envy Dalton at that moment, being only two centimeters away from the Fullmetal Alchemist's death glare.

"Who're you callin'..." Edward muttered, starting to drag Dalton along. "...so **small** that..." The rest of the party watched in awe as Edward started to spin the equally shocked Dalton around in quick revolutions. "...he can't be _**seen**_** under a freakin'****_ microscope!!!_**"

On the last word, Edward hurled Dalton toward the other end of the room. The momentum he'd built up in the process of ten seconds was enough to send Dalton crashing into the steps just underneath the throne. Alex winced as he made impact; the metal steps probably did some nasty things to Dalton's back.

Dalton did his best to get back to his feet, and Alphonse did his best to keep Edward from doing any more damage to the Enlightened official. "D...Darn it!" Dalton muttered. He then let out a loud belch, and a violet-colored gas filled up the entire room, damaging all of the party slightly with its poisonous essence.

The gas quickly faded, and the party was most definitely victorious. Dalton stumbled again, shouting, "N-Nooooo!! I'm going to be _immortal_! I **can't** be beaten now!" A red light suddenly filled the room for a moment, and Dalton rose into the air again. A pillar of light enveloped him, and a Gate appeared at the base of the pillar. Dalton completely disappeared into the light, leaving the Gate there in the throne room.

Marle stepped forward toward the light pillar, looking at it curiously. "Is that... Is that really a Gate?" she asked hesitantly.

"No," Alex immediately replied. "But it is a portal nonetheless. This'll take us down to the Ocean Palace." Looking back toward the others, he said, "Are you ready?"

Crono nodded, his determination expressed easily with that motion. Alex sighed and turned toward the portal. He was sure that the others were ready... but he wasn't so sure about himself. Was he prepared for what was about to happen?

_**No time for that, you blockhead,**_ Joumae advised in a dark tone. **_Just get moving._** Alex placed a hand on the portal, and the entire party was taken by a bright light.

* * *

The party reappeared in a large entrance room in the Ocean Palace. The walls around them were a dark steel color, with many lines of circuitry running through the walls and floors as energy coursed through it. The floor beneath their feet was a mixture of iron, marble, and gold, creating an industrial and magical feel to the entire place. They were currently standing in a teleportation circle not unlike those found in the Skyways, and Edward wasn't taking it too well. 

"Damn, we _must_ be underwater," Edward growled as he stepped out of the circle, hunched over. "If there wasn't the water pressure, I'd probably lose all my lunch instantly!"

_**Those jokes are getting old,**_ Joumae said, and Alexander stepped past Edward to lead the way. They stepped down a short set of stairs ahead, where there were pools of some kind of orange viscous liquid. The pools radiated heat. **_Clever... Lava from beneath the earth's tectonic plates. They're using geothermal energy to power this place, besides the Mammon Machine._**

They reached a doorway ahead, but the creature known to them as Mune. "The black energy grows..." he stated, turning toward the party as they approached. "Something scary is waking up!" Mune then disappeared into the air, and the floor beneath them started to rumble.

Alex heard the faint sound of the Black Wind howling in his ears. Looking back towards his comrades, he shouted over the rumbling, "Let's hurry this up!!"

* * *

_In the hall of the Mammon Machine, the core of the Ocean Palace..._

"Schala, raise the power of the Mammon Machine to its limit!" Queen Zeal demanded in a high-pitched voice. She, Schala, the Prophet, along with six Enlightened men standing by, were standing in front of the Mammon Machine. All of them were eagerly anticipating the awakening of Lavos and Elaeus.

Schala remained silent for a moment, her expression clouding at her mother's words. Sensing hesitation, Queen Zeal quickly shouted, "_Schala_! You dare to disobey me!?"

The Queen's daughter sighed in sad resignation and mumbled, "Alright, mother..." She stretched her hands forth and started to chant something under her breath with her eyes closed. The Mammon Machine let out a peculiar wail as it powered up, and a red light pulsed from it that filled up the entire room.

The red pulsing light soon faded, and the various lights on the Machine itself started to shine at intervals. Queen Zeal stepped toward it, a maniacal grin on her face. "Oh... what bright splendor!" she proclaimed. "The incredible power of Elaeus and Lavos!!!"

Schala suddenly staggered in the middle of her chanting, and fell to her knees. "Aagh..." The Prophet took an involuntary step toward her, but said nothing and did nothing further.

Some time passed, and Queen Zeal only allowed Schala a very small respite before she had her chanting again. The Mammon Machine pulsed more erratically with each minute, and Queen Zeal's degradation continued. "Aah, I can feel it!" she declared, taking in a deep breath to savor the sensation. "The pulse of eternal life!!! Hahaha...!"

Meanwhile, Schala struggled to keep up her efforts. "D...Dark... force... wild... energy...! Aughhh!" She suddenly stumbled again, and the Prophet sharply inhaled a breath. Red light pulsed again through the hall at a steady pace.

One of the Enlightened men stepped forward nervously. "Th-The Mammon Machine!" he cried out toward the Queen. "Your Majesty, it's too dangerous!"

Queen Zeal, without turning all of the way, stretched forth a hand toward the upstart Enlightened One. A large bolt of lightning struck the man, sending him flying back. Schala recovered in time to witness this act, and cried out, "Mother...!"

The Queen looked sharply in Schala's direction, indicating that there was no mercy for words of opposition. "Don't stop, Schala! We're almost there... Immortality will be ours! Zeal will have the glory it deserves!" She started to cackle insanely. "Mwahaha!! Too long have I waited...!"

* * *

_Later, in a room just before the Mammon Machine's hall..._

Marle kept her crossbow in her hands as she and the others moved into the large, spacious room ahead of them. It had been a long fight through the Ocean Palace so far, and she knew that they were not done yet. The entire time, they'd battled Heartless that Alex called "Space Paranoid types," whatever that meant. He called the big purple tank-like ones "Devastators", the red unicyclist things "Magnum Loaders", and the twitchy yellow buggers "Strafers".

Marle certainly didn't like having to fight the Heartless incessantly, but she had a feeling that it was better than what they would've had to face under normal, non-crossover conditions. Nonetheless, knowing that you were fighting enemies from a different game universe did sometimes make one feel like one was getting gypped out of one's own adventure.

It didn't once occur to her that she was griping about what monsters she had to battle, while completely ignoring the pressure of having to save the world from utter destruction.

The party made it into the middle of the room, and found that there was someone already waiting for them. Frog unsheathed his Masamune immediately when he recognized the orange cape of the obstruction. Who could miss a target that big _and_ stupid?

"You made it **this** far," Dalton remarked, keeping his back to the fighters. "Maybe I underestimated you..." As the party went into a fighting formation, Dalton turned to them and declared, "But this is the end! **This** will take care of you!" With a wide wave of his arm, he intoned, "Come, _Golem Arachnid_!"

Dalton levitated into the air as a pool of darkness appeared in the center of the room. The pool seemed to settle eerily for a moment, and then _something_ exploded out of it. It landed on the ground where it had come from, its spindly legs staying just outside the pool's radius.

Edward cursed under his breath. "Dammit. That pisses me off."

Alphonse gave his younger brother a confused look, and Edward sighed. "Remember that thing we fought at the temple of Lebis back in Amestris? That Golem boss? Turns out that thing _did_ have a twin brother..."

Alex and Alphonse looked at the creature curiously, and realized that it looked very, very similar to that same Golem boss they'd fought. It was the exact same one! ...Except smaller. There was no way the original size would've fit into even this great, spacious room. So it only cleared Alphonse's height by a couple of feet, rather than by twenty.

Frog's grip on the Masamune tightened. "What stratagem shall we employ for this beast? Water magics, like the previous horde?"

"The legs are its major weak spot for physical attacks," Alphonse said as the Golem Arachnid shifted around slightly to study them with just one pair of its many eyes, "but maybe magic will work too." The younger Elric started to summon his magic power, and activated his Water 2 spell. A blue aura filled up the area, quickly followed by a large wave of water that crashed into the Golem while simply passing through the fighters.

But when the magic aura faded, something was wrong. The Golem was still standing, but now its outside was incredibly reflective with water covering it. Marle loaded a crossbow bolt and fired at the monster quickly. But the shot was suddenly deflected as soon as it was within a centimeter of the Golem's skin. It spun off to the side, having done almost no harm at all.

The Golem Arachnid suddenly jumped up into the air and fell into the pool of mud in the ground, dissolving into it completely. Then, out of nowhere, several mud pouches with lit fuses sticking out of them flew out of the air and landed all around the pool. Alexander's eyes widened in shock and shouted, "Get back! _Now!!_"

But there was no time. The bombs suddenly exploded, and the mud pool's circumference was engulfed by a series of large explosions. The party happened to be within range of several bombs, so they were thrown about by the blasts. Alexander landed on the floor headfirst, resulting in a knock to his head that stunned him for a few moments.

After the bombs had gone off, the pool also blew upward as the Golem Arachnid launched itself high into the air. It spread its five legs out wide and started to spin around in the air as it fell, creating shadows of its legs spinning around the pool below. Edward and Alphonse recognized the tactic and quickly moved out of range. Frog and Marle caught onto this tactic and followed the Elrics out of the shadows. Crono, seeing that Alex was still stunned by the blasts, ran over to the Interference and grabbed him, proceeding to drag him toward the others right before the Arachnid landed.

Alex finally recovered and shook his head vigorously to stimulate blood flow to his mind. Looking toward Crono, he nodded with a thankful air and looked toward one of the legs of the Golem, which was only a couple of feet away. He used the Heartless Seal Lockshield to cast a Curaga over the party, and then lifted his shield up to attack. Alexander brought the edge of the shield down on the leg, but the blow landed just a little too soon, and the momentum of his attack was somehow... dragged to the side.

The Golem Arachnid stood up, and Alex put the pieces together in his mind. "It looks like Dalton learned his lesson," he said. "He's created some kind of barrier around the Golem, something like a ceramic glaze. It seems to be constantly flowing around it, so it'll be hard to crack. But with that barrier up, we can't even do damage to that thing, much less wash it away with Water magic."

"So..." Marle said, keeping an eye on the Golem Arachnid as she spoke. The thing seemed to be remaining stationary for now, probably since they were out of range of any attacks. "We need to stop the barrier from moving..."

"Then we would have to remove it," Frog added. "If it's not unlike a glaze, could it be melted away with Fire?"

Edward grimaced as he thought about the chances. "It'd be tricky. Just scorching the outside isn't going to do it. Maybe if we could crack it and send some heat into the hole, and eventually melt it from the inside..."

Alphonse nodded. "But it'll be especially difficult if that thing's _moving_ while we try to crack it," he pointed out. "There's too many variables here..."

Crono slammed his fist into his palm, signaling that he'd gotten an idea. He motioned for the group to huddle together, and he explained his plan with few words and a lowered voice.

The huddle broke, and the party shared a collective nod. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. Blue sparks traveled through the ground as his alchemy worked its magic, with the greatest collection of sparks forming just beneath the legs. Suddenly, hollow pillars of stone rose up around the legs, being narrow enough to be restricting the Golem Arachnid's movement.

The Golem struggled against the unusual bonds as the next phase of the plan was put into action. Marle summoned her magical power, and shouted, "_Ice 2_!" at the creature. The area darkened with a dark blue shade as her aura extended into the battlefield, but what happened next was a little different from her normal spell. A blizzard of a whirlwind started blowing around the Golem Arachnid, covering it in ice. They could see the barrier start to slow down in its movement, and it became clearly visible.

Golden sparks of energy rose up from Alexander and Crono. With a thunderous crashing sound, two large Lightning bolts struck one single point on the side of the Golem. A large hole surrounded by cracks in the hardened glaze appeared where the bolts struck. Edward ran over to the Golem while summoning his magic. Alphonse gave his younger brother a lift up to the hole, and Edward shouted, "_Fire 2_!" while placing his hand right on the crack.

Starting from the cracks, a red glow started to spread throughout the ceramic barrier. The Elrics quickly stepped back, and Edward jumped off Alphonse to admire his handiwork properly. The intense heat from within the barrier caused the Golem to writhe violently against its restraints, but that wasn't the cool part. The cool part was that the glaze was visibly and rapidly melting off the Golem, piling into small pools beneath the Golem and around the pillars keeping it still. This not only strengthened the bonds in a way, but it also created a thin layer of glaze over the top of the mud pool, keeping it from diving in again if it should suddenly escape.

Alphonse and Frog both summoned their magical power for the finale of this plan. They both shouted the same spell, which was Water 2 again. The combined magical forces converged on the monster, and they could all suddenly feel a greater power targeting the Golem Arachnid. Out of absolutely nowhere, a gigantic tidal wave _rammed_ into the Golem, ripping it away from its restraints and making it splatter violently against the wall to the side. Alexander's jaw had dropped at the spectacular sight, but that made him no different from his comrades at that moment.

With the battle decisively finished, what was left was a huge mess. There was still the slowly cooling glaze all over the floor. The mud was still just about everywhere, and the stone pillars were probably containing mixtures of both viscous substances. Edward didn't bother to take them down.

Dalton levitated back down from the air to face the fighters again... only to find himself standing in a grotesque pool of mixed mud and glaze. The Enlightened official grimaced in disgust at ruining his fancy boots, but maintained his composure. "They beat the Golem Arachnid!?" he muttered to himself. "Alright, this calls for the Golem Twins."

He started to initiate his summoning magic again, but a red light filled up the room and a strong force cut into all of the magic users, stifling all channeling in progress. Dalton looked surprised at what was happening. "W-What's this strange force?" he asked no one in particular. "Could this be... Elaeus's and Lavos's energy!?"

Dalton stepped out of the muck he was standing in, his boots making a sick _sppplortch_ sound as the sticky substance resisted. Finally, he stood out of the mess and looked toward the doorway in the back of the room, where the red light seemed to be coming from. "...I've got a bad feeling about this..." Dalton said with genuine concern in his voice. "All my work will be in vain if I expire before I'm immortal!"

The red light faded, and Dalton quickly turned around toward the party. Whipping his cloak back behind him, he said dramatically, "This is your lucky day! Bye-bye!" A pillar of golden light enveloped him, and he rose up toward the ceiling of the room, eventually disappearing.

* * *

The party moved through the doorway and found themselves in a large, spacious grand hall, and they were currently on a narrow walkway leading to the main chamber. There was a Nu with its back to the party on the bridge in front of them, obstructing their path. 

When the party approached the Nu, it jumped in surprise and shuffled away from them. It was apparently frightened out of its wits. "This is the hall of the Mammon Machine..." it stated quietly, as was its duty. "Now is the time to turn back, nu..." And without a word, it jumped off the side of the walkway, dooming itself to falling into the abyss below them.

Alexander could hear the Black Wind howling in his ears clearly now. There was death and omens of death filling this room, nearly permeating every wall and person. As the Nu had just demonstrated, it seemed that suicide appealed as a somewhat better alternative to what was to come.

The six fighters dashed ahead, finding themselves in front of the shining Mammon Machine. Schala, the Prophet, and Queen Zeal were there, along with six other Zeal men watching nervously.

Frog flicked his cape behind him and stated determinedly, "We shan't allow thee to meddle with Lavos, Queen!"

Edward nodded in response, and glared at the Queen as well. "And there's no way were gonna allow you to summon Elaeus, not after all the trouble we've been through!"

"Schala!" Marle yelled to the Queen's daughter on the left side. "We're here to rescue you; c'mon!!"

The generic workers to the side backed away slowly to give all six fighters room. Schala looked toward the party, her expression a mix of surprise and a little bit of hope. "You're...!" Suddenly, the Mammon Machine sparked chaotically, and some of the sparks caught Schala and began to shock her. "Help!!" she cried out, falling to her knees in pain.

The Prophet moved toward Schala, his worry in the open now. "Schala...!"

The Queen looked to Schala, to the Mammon Machine, and then back to Schala with an annoyed expression. She seemed completely unaware of her daughter's plight. "What are you _doing_, Schala!? I need your help here!"

The Mammon Machine's glowing increased in frequency, and various sirens and whines sounded off from the system. Alphonse looked toward Crono and shouted, "Crono, use Melchior's knife to stop the Machine!"

Marle gasped and searched through the inventory bag quickly. Procuring the small weapon, she said, "Crono...! The Red Knife!" Crono took it and nodded to her. The boy held up the small blade and aimed for a throw.

_"Here we go, Mune!"_ a strange disembodied voice came from the knife.

_"Ready, big brother!"_ a younger voice of the same type answered. Crono disregarded this for the moment and hurled the Red Knife as the Machine. It landed with dead-on accuracy, hitting the red core at the Machine's "neck." Upon contact with the Machine, the blade was instantly transformed into a familiar sword.

Frog gasped at what the Red Knife had become. Looking down at his own sword's sheath, and then looking in bewilderment at the sword stabbing into the Machine, he stuttered, "'T-Tis... the _Masamune_!?"

A red light started shining out of the hole the newly created Masamune had stabbed into it. Queen Zeal looked at the wound worriedly. "Th-The Mammon Machine!" she cried out.

The Prophet nearby suddenly became as serious as ever. "It's coming...!"

Schala, still being attacked by sparks, did her best to stand up and look at the current situation. Her eyes widening upon the sight, she screamed, "N-No, **stop**! That sword alone can't stop it!"

At length, a white light filled up the entire room. When they had all been blinded by the energy coming from the machine, they all heard something familiar. Something that struck fear into the members of the adventuring party. It was a strange, alien cry. Lavos's cry.

* * *

The light soon faded, and the party found themselves in a bright blue shining space. All around them, space, time, and energy flowed around them with bright blue colors accompanying them. But this infinite plane wasn't what the party was focusing on right now. 

Right in front of them was a huge, dark, monstrous creature. It was a thing mainly covered in spikes around the back and side of its tough shell, and there were humongous scorpion-like legs to the side. At the very front was a strange three-section circular mouth, and there seemed to be a blue, beady eye in the center of the mouth when it opened. This was Lavos, and he was frickin' huge.

Alexander was filled with fear and rage when he saw another important detail. Standing right at the base of the spikes, just above where Lavos's face started, was a familiar man. Though "man" was a bit of a stretch, since that would usually imply that the man was human. But this was the same humanoid Heartless they'd been looking for.

"Elaeus!!" Alexander shouted, summoning the Heartless Seal Lockshield and brandishing it threateningly. The others also got into their fighting positions.

The Heartless apprentice standing atop Lavos merely smirked at the party. With an obviously fake casual tone, he replied, "Ah, Alexander, was it? I barely remember you now. It's been... how long now? Just short of sixty-five million years, correct?" With a pretended sigh, he added, "One loses track of time when one's slowly gathering strength from the heart of the planet. So tell me, how are things in this era of this doomed world?"

"I'll tell ya what's going on!" Edward retorted, clapping his hands. He transmuted the wrist of his right automail arm into a blade, and pointed it at Elaeus. "You and that bug are going to get beat down, right here and now!"

"Is that so?" Elaeus asked innocently with an amused expression. "But what if something unexpected happens here? What if, say... destruction rained down from the heavens?" He pointed into the space above them casually.

All of a sudden, the area took on a red aura. Beams of energy crashed into the ground around them, creating gigantic explosions that hit members of the party nearly dead-on. The destruction continued for a significant amount of time, creating more opportunities for devastating attacks that were, unfortunately, fulfilled.

It wiped them out. Alex barely managed to remain conscious after the wave of explosive energy strikes. He fell down to the ground, barely able to move because of the pain wracking his body. His fellow fighters also fell to the ground, rendered unconscious by the blows. Alexander was suddenly filled with a sense of dread. They really couldn't beat Lavos and Elaeus yet! If they only had more time, but... How were they going to manage that at this point!?

A few moments passed by in tension, and Alex was barely able to stay conscious enough to witness what happened next. The Prophet appeared in the infinite space and regarded the unconscious forms of the party. Then, with his back toward Lavos and Elaeus, he muttered, "I've waited for this..."

With one fluid motion, the man spun around and threw off the outlandish cape that was his disguise. It was indeed none other than Magus. "I've been waiting for you, Elaeus," he growled at the two monstrosities.

The apprentice raised an eyebrow, not at all impressed. "Oh? And who might you be?"

Magus ignored Elaeus's mockery. "I swore long ago... that I'd destroy you both." Summoning his scythe, he added fiercely, "No matter what the price! It is time to fulfill that vow. Feel my wrath, Elaeus!!"

"What do you think you can do?" a voice called out from nowhere. From the other side of the fallen fighters, Queen Zeal and Schala appeared in the bright space. "Hmph!" the Queen muttered unsatisfactorily. "A false prophet... You'll be a snack for the great Lavos and Elaeus!"

Elaeus smirked and leaned back against one of Lavos's large spikes. "Ah, so you're the queen that harnessed and brought out our power? It would be unfair of me to say that I'm not impressed."

The Queen beamed with an insane pride at the compliment, but Schala got between the two of them. "Mother, please stop!" Schala begged of her mother desperately. "This power can only end in ruin!"

Queen Zeal's happiness immediately disappeared, replaced by rage. "Get away from there, Schala!" she snapped. "The almighty life force of Lavos lives in all of us... You are a part of it! You cannot change fate now! Oppose me and I will destroy you also!"

Schala recoiled as the Queen shocked her with a small spark of concentrated Lightning magic. "Heeelp!" she cried.

As Schala fell, the Queen levitated into the air and launched herself onto Lavos, eventually standing beside Elaeus. As Elaeus looked at her questioningly, the Queen screeched, "Come, _Prophet_! Feel the power of Lavos and Elaeus!"

Lavos let out a small cry, and Magus was suddenly shocked as many sparks of dark energy coursed through his body. "Ungh!" Magus groaned as the energy overwhelmed him. He fell to his knees, and suddenly cried out louder when he realized what was happening. "_Aaah_!! My powers are being drained!"

Still, the mage did his best to resist. "Unghh... I won't... be beaten! I survived the darkness to defeat you, Elaeus!" He suddenly shook off the sparks and strengthened the grip on his scythe. "Take this!" With a loud cry, Magus leaped forward and stabbed the butt of his scythe's handle into Elaeus expertly. When he removed the weapon, though, the wound sealed up with darkness, and Elaeus didn't look any worse for the wear.

"Wh-What...?" Magus gasped. "It doesn't work!?"

Elaeus grinned and suddenly grabbed Magus by the throat, holding him up. As Magus squirmed in his grip, Elaeus said, "Of course it doesn't work, fool. The only ones that can damage a Heartless are the ones affiliated with those wielding the power of a Keyblade. And the only one who fits that category is now unconscious below us, where you'll soon be!"

More dark energy coursed through Magus's body from Elaeus's hand, and the magician cried out in agony. Elaeus threw the man to the floor, sending him sprawling next to the party. Queen Zeal cackled insanely, and Elaeus slightly winced at the laughing's high pitch. "Foolish one!" she declared. "Your measly power can't touch Elaeus nor Lavos!"

Cackling again and earning a glare from Elaeus, the Queen said, "This is from me to you! You shall enjoy eternal life... as part of Lavos! _Uwahahaha_!!!"

"Y'know, that laughing is going to have to go if we're going to be spending eternity together," Elaeus remarked irritably.

Joumae groaned in Alex's mind, and that was enough to get Alex thinking and moving again. He slowly tried to get up. Marle, who had also begun to recover, looked at him and asked, "Alex, can you move? Please, help Schala!"

Frog tried his best to stand, and glared at Magus's limp body. "Magus, thou art _mine_ to defeat!"

Edward groaned and got as far as one knee. "Dammit, this is going from bad to worse really fast..."

Alphonse got up and looked toward Alexander worriedly. "Alexander, do something!"

Alexander took a deep breath, and shakily got to his feet. There was something he could do... Something he could do to spare everyone of this horrible end... And there was a chance that it would really turn out fine.

_**It's insane!**_ Joumae screamed into Alex's head. **_This is just what Elaeus wants of you! And what if the others don't do what you need them to do?!_**

"There's no time!" Alex responded aloud, and ran toward Lavos. The monster had created a wide, faint beam of energy from its mouth that was slowly sucking everyone toward it to absorb them. Alex did his best to fight the forces pulling him as he defiantly stood in front of the enemies.

The Queen grinned, but refrained from cackling as she looked down at Alex and asked, "Haven't given up yet? What do you plan to do? You challenge Lavos and Elaeus with that battered body of yours?" With a wave of her hand, she muttered, "Mwahaha... See the power of Lavos and feel his wrath!"

The beam of energy coming from Lavos began to narrow and intensify. The others stopped being sucked toward Lavos. Alexander took another deep breath and summoned the Lockshield to his hands... and then, suddenly, it disappeared in a puff of inky black smoke. _**Yeah, like you'll really take me with you! **_Joumae shouted, but his voice was starting to get faint. **_If you're going to stop them, do it_**_ using your body alone..._

And then he was gone. Alex no longer felt Joumae's presence within his mind. Growling but deciding that now wasn't the time to complain, he placed himself in the direct line of fire that Lavos seemed to be aiming for. He then spread out his limbs, lowering his center of gravity and preparing for the force that was going to hit him at full power.

Frog looked toward Alexander again and gasped. "Desist, Alexander!"

Edward stood up and tried moving toward Alex. "What the hell are you doing!? Get out of there, Alex!" When no response came, he yelled, "Can you hear me at all!? Get your ass _out of there_!!"

A bright light suddenly blinded everyone as the beam fired from Lavos. The only thing truly visible were the other party members, Schala, and Alex's silhouette against the beam. Slowly, the silhouette dissolved and faded away... But a small orb of darkness remained that quickly engulfed the remaining people...

* * *

Schala, Magus, Crono, Frog, Marle, Edward, and Alphonse appeared in the hall of the Mammon Machine once more, with the Machine itself raging behind them. The orb of darkness settled into the middle of the group and faded away. 

Magus slowly recovered his composure and growled, "I can't... beat him. Elaeus...!"

Alphonse got up and looked around. There was obviously someone missing. "Alexander...? **Where's Alexander!?**" he demanded, looking all over the room worriedly but not finding a thing. "**Noooo!!!**"

Crono also stood up, dumbfounded by what had just transpired. The exact same action had come to the young protagonist's mind as well. Sacrifice to save the others... But Alex had gotten there first. ...Was that on purpose?

"Argh...!" Frog moaned as he got up, clutching his side. "We must plan our escape!" he shouted as the hall of the Mammon Machine began to cave in around them with the rumbling of the Machine. "The Palace crumbles!"

Schala slowly stood up as well, and her face was resigned to some kind of fate. She removed her pendant from around her neck and held it up. "The last of my pendant's power will send you to safety," she stated. "I know you can't forgive her, but... please don't hate Mother, or our kingdom."

With tears forming in her eyes, she shouted, "I'm so sorry! Now, off you go!" She began to chant with the pendant in her hand. Magus stood up and looked toward her with a surprised expression, and then sighed to himself.

Edward looked toward where the orb of darkness that had transported them away had disappeared. Laying down on the floor, in the exact same spot the dark orb had faded away, was the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield. Edward hesitantly picked up the Lockshield, and felt a strange sensation as his automail hand made contact with the shield's handle. _**Finally!**_ a voice echoed through his head, causing him to wonder what the hell was going on again.

As Schala finished her chanting, all six people were bathed in a bright white light. Then, Schala fell to her knees in despair, and remained silent as the Ocean Palace continued to fall apart around her. "...Alexander..."

* * *

It was like watching the video at Arris Dome all over again. Lavos and Elaeus broke through the earth and started raining all kinds of destruction upon the earth. Many of the shots of energy crashed into the Zeal continents, breaking them up into many small chunks and sending them hurtling into the seas below. 

When the largest continent fell, it caused a tidal wave that crashed through many of the continents all over, including the Earthbound village of Algetty. The world was in ruins for the first time in its history, thanks to Lavos and Elaeus. And the Interference, one of the brave fighters that knew how to avert the disasters to come, was now well and truly gone.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	24. Commandeering the Blackbird

Chapter 23  
Commandeering the Blackbird

Lucca, Robo, and Ayla sat around the End of Time, looking bored for the most part. A change of party hadn't been made in a long time, which meant that Frog and Marle had been adventuring for quite a while. _What's going on down there?_ Lucca found herself wondering as she fiddled with her new gun. The weapons exchange back at Algetty was the last they'd heard from them, and Lucca was starting to get worried.

She looked at the others present on the platform in the timeless void. Robo was sitting in the corner opposite of her, his eyes blinking as he ran some routine self-diagnostics on his system. Ayla had fallen asleep a couple of hours ago, being completely bored with the silence of the End of Time. And the old man standing under the lamppost was still snoring away as usual, the irregular sounds coming from him being the only ambient noise in that plane of existence.

Lucca started to think about her adventure so far, but then her mind was wracked with a terrible pain. It felt not unlike what she experienced when switching in, with memories being forced into her mind. But why was it happening now? She looked to the sides as she held her head, and saw Robo's eyes blinking erratically as well as Ayla being jerked awake from her slumber. The same thing was happening to them, too.

Memories started to pile into her mind. The trip to Proto Dome, discovering and naming the Epoch, then traveling back to the Dark Ages and going through Algetty and the Mountain of Woe. Then the rush back to Zeal, the first confrontation with Dalton, the trek through the Ocean Palace, facing off and falling miserably against Lavos and Elaeus, and then...

All three of them gasped. Lucca's gun clattered onto the ground, and her hands fell from her head, hanging limp at her sides. "No... It can't be..." she gasped, her eyes wide.

The old man kept on snoring.

* * *

There was nothing around him. Absolutely nothing. If he opened his eyes, he saw nothing. If he tried to make a sound, he couldn't hear it. If he tried to move, his limbs wouldn't respond. The only thing there was the void... and his own consciousness. 

He slowly began to reawaken, trying to gain his bearings in the nothingness. He could hardly remember who he was, or what had happened to him... But slowly, it began to come back.

Alexander Ephiram Karsath. The Interference. That was who he was, right? The guy who'd ended up getting sucked into the Kingdom Hearts II universe on accident. Memories began to return to him: the Lockshield, Sora and the Keyblade, Donald, Goofy, Organization XIII, Riku, Kairi...

Then there had been his sister, who had ended up getting sucked into the Fullmetal Alchemist 2 universe. There he'd met Edward and Alphonse Elric, and had learned alchemy on accident. His sister... had been influenced to become a Heartless like Dilan the apprentice. The old apprentices of Ansem the Wise, obviously not including Xehanort, had been aware of the Interference phenomenon, and had been waiting to see what effects Alex's presence had on the events of the game worlds.

After defeating Jack Crowley and the Golems, he'd taken Edward and Alphonse with him to Guardia. There they met Crono, Lucca, and the others, and learned magic. Alexander felt a flicker of pain somewhere at the thought of Lucca, but he wasn't sure why. Was his heart not completely in the void?

Wait, what had happened to him? There had been the Ocean Palace, the Mammon Machine... and then facing off Lavos and Elaeus, and losing miserably to them. Then there was a bright light... the Black Wind howling incessantly in his ears... immense, immeasurable pain... and then this nothingness.

Alexander's numb senses filled with the horrific news. He was **dead**. Well and truly dead. He'd been _obliterated_ by Lavos's attack. Heck, there wasn't even a body to bury.

He'd had a motivation to take that action, he remembered that. It had been likely that they were going to lose anyway. They just hadn't become strong enough yet. But under normal circumstances, Crono would've been the one to sacrifice himself to let the others live, and Alex knew he couldn't just let that be.

The others... Everyone else. Crono, Lucca, Marle, Frog, Robo, Ayla, Edward, Alphonse, and Magus. They were all still alive, and they could do something about all this. They had a chance to undo what time had wrought with his actions.

That was why he was still barely aware of himself in the cold, empty void that was death. There was one slight possibility left...

* * *

Edward groaned to himself as he slowly regained consciousness. Damn, he was still sore from that confrontation... One large attack from Lavos had completely wiped them out, period. And then, in the midst of all that, Alexander had gone and done himself in. That stupid kid... Were all of the Karsaths so suicidal!? First Erica takes her own life to become a Heartless, and now Alexander goes and takes the brunt of a lethal attack from the most powerful monster in this universe. 

The alchemist, feeling that he should express his frustration, lifted his right arm up and pounded his automail fist onto the ground, causing a clanging sound. This startled him. _Clang?_ Slowly, he rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. There seemed to be nothing but darkness above him, but there was a light shining into a light mist from beneath him. The floor he was laying on was cold and hard, like some kind of stone.

At last, Edward stood up and gazed at his surroundings. His jaw dropped. He was on some kind of gigantic, cylindrical platform in the middle of a dark nothingness. The platform itself seemed to be made of a stained glass design, which was incredibly intricate. And disturbing, considering the design. Edward was at one end of the pillar in the darkness, and he had a perfect view of the design in its upright position on the floor.

In the center of the blue circle was Alexander's image, laid back with his eyes closed, almost in a comatose state. In a group of large circles on the right-hand side of his head, there were portraits of Sora, himself, and Crono. The perimeter of the circular design was a darker blue color, with a series of more circles with a keyhole design in the center of them.

"What the heck _is_ all this?" Edward asked no one in particular.

"The Station of Awakening," no one in particular answered. Edward jumped a little and looked up from the design toward the source of the voice. There was a figure on the other side of the pillar, and Edward cautiously approached it.

"Wait, so I ended up with _you_?!" the stranger asked incredulously. With a clearly melodramatic sigh, he added, "Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers..."

Edward was confused, surprised, and partially unimpressed by this person. He wore a strange dark green armor from the neck down. In the face, Edward was surprised at how much this guy resembled Alexander. The differences were that the guy's spiky dark brown hair was very, very slightly tinted green, and the stranger's eyes were a bright green color; a sharp contrast to Alexander's hazel eyes. The guy also had a strange, almost sadistic smirk that just didn't seem like it belonged to Alex.

"Uh... Alex?" Edward asked, though he was pretty sure this assumption was wrong.

"Heh!" the guy chortled condescendingly, quickly stifling Edward's hopes. "No, I'm not that idiot. Not exactly, anyway. You could say that I'm a part of him."

This suggestion confused Edward for a moment. Then it hit him, confusing him even more. "You're not... Joumae, are you?"

"Correct, sadly enough," Joumae replied, nodding. "Alexander's dark counterpart, and the manifestation of the darkness that represents the Lockshield."

Edward's confusion took the foreground of his consciousness. He'd never really openly questioned the existence of Joumae, Roxas, or Naminé once it had been established that their hosts were really from other worlds and realities. But he'd never fully embraced it, either. It had just been a strange quirk of theirs that they'd never really discussed openly.

There was probably a good reason that it hadn't been fully discussed. Joumae's first impression was that of a rather sarcastic bastard. He could only hope that Roxas and Naminé balanced out this jerk between them.

Joumae cleared his throat, bringing Edward back to the present. The Fullmetal Alchemist's annoyance toward Joumae finally countered his confusion, and he launched into the many questions he had. "The Station of Awakening?"

"A proving ground for the power within the heart," Joumae replied, gesturing at the platform. "You lacked a definite one, so I had to manifest Alexander's in your heart. Since I'm just a counterpart, this kind of place is my domain."

Edward looked around curiously. So this was a place within his own... heart? Weird... "Wait, so you were in Alex's heart before? Then how did you...?"

Joumae's smirk turned into a grin. "That's the interesting part. Remember when Alex was knocked out by that sleeping gas from the Mud Imp?" When Edward nodded, Joumae quickly lost his grin.

"While he was unconscious," he explained seriously, "I was given access to his mind. Normally he could try and evade me, but I had total access while he was asleep. I had nothing else to do anyway. So I went in there and looked into his thoughts, to see what he was planning for later in the game's events." Joumae sighed. "He was planning to sacrifice himself to Lavos instead of Crono, who would've normally taken that action. He was really determined on it, and there was nothing I could do to change his mind. I couldn't get the info out to you guys either."

Joumae started to pace around Edward as he continued. "So I started making plans. I was still in control of the Lockshield, so I could prepare for a few things. I looked deeper into Alex's memories in the short time I had, so that I could help foresee problems that might come up during the rest of the game's events. Once all hell broke loose back there, I was able to detach myself and the Lockshield away from Alexander, and use my power to get all of you guys out of Lavos's pocket dimension. From there, I was hoping to attach myself to one of you guys so that the Lockshield's power would still be available. It is kinda essential to this operation. And you were the first one to pick it up, so..."

Edward took a deep breath, trying to stay calm while he swallowed all of this. He remained silent for a while as he thought this through, and then sighed resignedly. "So now I'm stuck with you for the rest of eternity, is that it?"

The counterpart laughed and replied, "Of course not! I'm not exactly thrilled about this match myself, y'know." When Joumae's mirth subsided and Edward's glare intensified, Joumae clarified his point by saying, "There is a chance we might be able to bring Alexander back. He's counting on this; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone through with it."

"Figures," Edward growled. No point in killing yourself in the middle of a quest unless you weren't _really_ dead. Yeah, _that_ made perfect sense. "Run that by me again."

Joumae smirked again and glanced at his wrist as if he was wearing a watch. "Maybe later. If I'm guessing this right, you'll be waking up just about now..."

* * *

"Hmm..." Marle mumbled to herself, slowly recovering from unconsciousness. "Uhnn... Alex..." Her eyes suddenly shot open as her memories returned to her. "Alex!!" She looked around, seeing that she had been lying on the floor of a small hut. There was a fire in the corner, warming the remaining fighters among them. Frog, Crono, Edward, and Alphonse were also near her, slowly waking up as well. 

Frog got up, looking solemn. The eyes in Alphonse's helmet were once again filled with a ghostly glow as the armor sat up. Crono groaned and held his head as he tried to stand. Finally, Edward woke up with a sudden start, getting to an upright position quickly before glancing back and forth at the hut. Edward seemed to look at Crono strangely for a second, but then looked away.

"Oh! You're awake!" a voice came from outside. The elder of Algetty walked into the hut, looking pleased to see the remaining party in one piece.

Alphonse finally recovered his mind, apparently, because the first thing uttered by him was, "Alexander!! Where is Alex?!"

The elder averted his gaze in response. "We found no one else..."

Frog looked toward the floor of the hut. "So it wasn't a dream," he noted to himself. Every other party member seemed to understand. What had happened was almost too harsh to believe. Looking toward the elder again, he asked, "Be this the Earthbound village?"

"This island was the only refuge left," the elder responded, "after the Ocean Palace disaster." Apparently, the remains of all living civilization in this time period was now isolated onto this one island, both Earthbound and Enlightened.

"Pity," Edward said finally, though his tone was somewhat passive, as if he had something else on his mind. "So, where'd the old man Melchior go after all this?"

This time, the elder's response had a hint of confusion. "When the disaster struck, an eerie, black portal materialized. Melchior tried to save Janus, but he was also dragged in."

"A 'black portal'?" Alphonse echoed. Realization hit them all like a speeding car. "**A gate!!!**" they shouted in unison.

"That maiden, Schala..." Frog quickly continued, "whither hath she gone?"

The elder paced a little through the hut, remaining silent. After a moment, he finally replied, "I don't know. No one has seen her since."

Edward growled something incoherent under his breath. Folding his arms and contemplating some more, he asked, "And what about the Epoch? Where has that thing gone?"

"Your ship is quite sturdy and safe," the elder reassured them with a slight smile. "It's almost as if it followed you here..."

Marle sighed and stood up to her full height. "Alex..." Edward looked over to her, and to all of the others analytically. This certainly was a grim event, but if what Joumae said was right...

_**You could just ask, you know,**_ an unwelcome voice stated into Edward's unsuspecting mind, startling him to no end. Joumae laughed at the blond's reaction, adding, **_Heck, maybe having a new host for now might not be such a bad thing after all, if you're gonna react like _that!**

Alphonse looked at Edward worriedly. "Um... brother?"

"It's complicated," was all Edward would say at the moment.

The elder looked at Edward for a moment and then seemed to have an epiphany. "Oh, this must be yours," he said, walking out of the hut for a moment. When he returned, he was carrying the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield, much to Edward's surprise.

Edward took hold of the Lockshield, and the strange sensation seemed to occur again as he made contact. "Alex's Lockshield..." he muttered to himself.

"Young man," the elder added, "I found it next to your hand, almost as if was meant to be wielded by you."

"Joumae..." Edward said quietly as he stared at the shield. That had been as clear a sign as he was going to get from _these_ worlds. For now, he would be the Lockshield Master.

"Take all the time you need to rest," the elder advised as he walked back out of the hut. "I will be in the commons."

* * *

_**Let's try connecting to the End of Time to switch party members, **_Joumae suggested next, and Edward looked surprised. There was certainly a lot of work to be done, wielding the Lockshield. He should've just left the thing well enough alone... Still, the suggestion wasn't unreasonable considering the circumstances. 

"Unlock!" Edward shouted, mimicking what he'd seen Alexander do. A bright blue beam shot out of the Crimson Catalyst's keyhole, and stabbed into the air a few feet in front of him. From the rippling space, a portal to the End of Time appeared. Smirking at his handiwork, Edward said, "Alright, who's switching out?"

Three hands shot up. Marle's, Frog's, and Crono's. Edward was a little surprised by this. Switching out Crono, the main protagonist, wasn't something they'd considered. Then again, to look at the young man, it was actually the best thing to do. He'd been adventuring through this thing from the start, and **boy** did he looked tired and ragged. And besides, all the party members were protagonists in their own right, so why not switch the leader?

"Alright," Edward said, gesturing at the portal. Marle, Frog, and Crono jumped into the portal, and Lucca, Robo, and Ayla stepped out, all looking solemn. After a bit of explanation, they found out that the remaining party's memories had been updated at the time when Alex had died.

Finally, the party went outside to explore what was left of this time. They were indeed on a rather small island. There were just three huts, and a small forest in front of a hill to the north was what the "commons" consisted of. Their ship, the Epoch, was on the other side of the hill. Having no better idea of what to do from here, the party went to the commons.

In the midst of the dead, snowed-in trees was a gathering of people. A mix of former "Earthbound" and "Enlightened" people were mingling there. One Enlightened man seemed rather distressed; the loss of Zeal and the Mammon Machine had removed magic from all of the Enlightened Ones. "How can I survive in this land without my magic?" the man said sadly, his tone devoid of hope.

The former Earthbound man next to him encouraged him with, "You don't need magic to survive. Besides, you're not alone!"

"You're right!" the Enlightened man agreed, somehow immediately seeing the futility of his worrying. "We're alive, and there's always hope."

Edward looked around at the mix of people, feeling somewhat relieved at how people were getting the drive to survive, even after Lavos's first destructive attack. Having been a part of this world for quite a while, and even literally becoming part of it with the acquisition of magic, he felt kinda sorry for these people. So it was heartening to know that they still had hope, even after Lavos and Elaeus were done with the place. He'd seen the same hope in the future era. Being alive was something to be hopeful about.

They'd lost to Lavos and Elaeus, but they were all still alive thanks to Alexander's sacrifice. They could try it again, stronger the next time. And with Alexander among them if they pulled it off right.

And even after the destruction, it seemed that there was hope for the world itself. After all, the sky was now clear and the incessant blizzard had ceased. Maybe the long ice age Azala had predicted would soon be over for these people. Alphonse noted this aloud, and Ayla smiled at the prospect.

In the back, near the rock wall, they finally found the village elder. As they approached, the old man smiled at them and asked, "All rested up?" He didn't seem to mind much that three of the party members had changed places.

"...Bow, and pay homage to our new liege, King Dalton!"

"...the hell?" Edward mumbled, and that's what broke loose at that moment. A couple of violet-armored humanoid creatures, similar to the ones that had been guarding the Blackbird back in Zeal, jumped into the middle of the crowd. _**I think these are called Bashers.**_ Presumably, one of them had made the unusual announcement. They started twirling their staffs in their hands, causing the people to run away from the weapons in motion. A third one jumped behind the village elder and knocked him away, sending him sprawling to the ground.

A fireball hit Alphonse in the back, sending him to the ground. Everyone else turned around toward the source as Alphonse slowly got up. Walking toward them, looking as annoying as ever, was Dalton himself. He stood in the spot where the elder had previously been, and his three soldiers jumped to take their places beside him. The five fighters took a formation opposite to Dalton's force.

Swinging his cape dramatically as he turned toward the people, Dalton shouted at one of the survivors, "You there! What's wrong!? You're lucky to be alive!" Raising his voice to address the entire crowd, he yelled, "The old crone and the pesky Gurus are gone. I now rename Zeal... _the Kingdom of Dalton_!" He cackled maniacally, and mixed mutterings rumbled from the dispersed crowd.

Finally, Dalton noticed the quintet of fighters glaring at him. His cackling petered out, and he quirked an eyebrow. "**You!** You're alive!?" Grinning and looking toward the northeast, he added, "Ah! That vehicle outside must be yours! It's just like the one Belthasar was building..."

He twirled and swept his cloak aside again, and resumed his cackling. "I've decided you don't deserve such a splendid toy! Henceforth it shall be my personal chariot!"

The entire party was shocked by this declaration. "You've got to be joking!" Lucca exclaimed.

Glaring at them, Dalton growled, "You'll have to come with me! You might start a rebellion or something!" Smirking, he stretched a hand toward them and continued, "And now, as a token of my esteem for you... **take **_**this!!**_"

He conjured at large fireball at the party, and launched it toward them. Edward, however, held up the Lockshield and knocked the fireball aside, letting it explode on a rock wall harmlessly.

"What!?" Dalton exclaimed. His face turning red as his rage built up, he growled, "Grrrr... Ha! How's **this**!?" He suddenly launched five larger fireballs at each party member. The unexpected attack caught them all off guard, and the resulting explosion sent them sprawling into the snow.

"Mwahaha!" Dalton laughed as he sneered at the soon-unconscious fighters. "Enjoy a little taste of my true power!"

* * *

"Unggh..." Edward groaned as he slowly woke up. He was once again on a cold floor, he immediately realized. That wasn't a good sign. He finally got up, and the three Chrono Trigger members along with his brother slowly recovered in turn. They seemed to be in a very small room, which was completely made of metal. There were some crates in one corner, and the door reminded them of some they'd seen in the future era. 

Robo looked back and forth at the small room. "Unfamiliar... scenery," he remarked, unsure of how to describe their situation.

Ayla gasped, and everyone turned to her. She pointed at Edward, Robo, and Lucca in turn, exclaiming, "Weapons! All gone!" Investigation proved her correct; the Lockshield, Lucca's gun, and the armor on Robo's right fist had been confiscated.

Robo quickly searched for the inventory bag, but he found nothing. His eyes blinked brightly for a moment of surprise. "Items are missing, too!" They hadn't bought much, but there had been some Ethers and Tonics in there, among other important items.

_**Dang it, they probably got the money, too...**_ Joumae growled. When Edward echoed this and the others expressed confusion, Joumae added, _**I'd managed to get Alex's wallet in the teleportation process. It had ended up in your wallet, Ed. But now they probably took it.**_

"Must think of a way to escape," Robo stated once their situation had been fully explained. Even though he said it, there was a fair bit of doubt among them. No items, weapons, or money, and they hardly knew where they were.

"Ayla fight!" the cavewoman shouted in response. "Get all weapons back! Destroy bad man!!"

Alphonse nodded. "She's right. Edward, Ayla, and I can all still fight just hand-to-hand. We'll be able to fight our way through this place and get our stuff back."

Lucca scowled. "But that still leaves us vulnerable. Can't you guys transmute some makeshift weapons for us for now, or maybe switch in someone else to cover for us?"

"No can do," Edward replied bitterly. "I'm not sure how to make a gun you'd know how to use, or an effective covering for Robo's hands. Not only that, but I haven't learned how to actually summon the Lockshield yet, so we're sunk there."

_**Oh, did I forget to teach you that? Silly me.**_

"For now, let's focus on figuring out where we are and how we can escape," Robo reiterated. He looked around and saw a ladder in the far back corner. The party quickly climbed it and found a small corridor leading outside. Upon leaving the corridor, they all found themselves on dark green metal, overlooking clouds swiftly passing under them while the wind blew fiercely against them.

"Wh-What!?" Lucca exclaimed, taken aback by this development.

"This must be..." Alphonse mumbled, looking around at the rest of the metal surface. It seemed to be a part of some kind of... large airplane. "...the _Blackbird_!?"

The party, suddenly at a loss of what to do, started to go back to their containment cell. As they started climbing back down the ladder, Robo shouted, "Please wait!" He jumped down to the floor and walked over to the other corner, and looked up into the ceiling. There seemed to be a ladder sticking out of the ceiling. "It seems like an airduct."

They all jumped up to the ladder (though Edward needed a boost from Alphonse) and climbed into the narrow, dark passage. It seemed to connect to other areas of the ship, with grates in the floor that shone with light coming from the ship's rooms. "We can observe the enemy from this point," Robo explained.

They made their way around, looking down into the ship to get a bearing on what was inside and where their stuff was. There were several rooms in the ship with supplies stored in them, so that would probably be a good place to start. All of the rooms and hallways were guarded by more Bashers as well as small floating sentry robots called Bytes. "Bad man give up Golems," Ayla noted.

"What do you expect?" Edward replied. "We can easily trash them with Water magic, and he can't protect them all like he did the Arachnid. So they're inefficient."

They continued to look around, and finally approached one grate near the back of the ship. "Hey, you!!" a deep voice shouted at them, startling them all. But there was no one around. Finally, they realized that it was coming from below, so they checked in on it.

They were looking down into a large hangar, in which the Epoch was sitting in the center, undergoing further construction by several of Dalton's Bashers nearby. "It seems he's modifying Epoch," Robo observed, gesturing at Dalton standing at one side of the craft. It had been Dalton who had made the outburst earlier.

"They change Epoch!" Ayla exclaimed, and Lucca quickly shushed her.

Dalton stepped toward his workers. "Pay close attention to what you're doing!" he barked at them angrily. "This will be my royal 'Airthrone!'" With a dramatic swing of his cape, he added loudly, "The world now belongs to me! Mwahahahahaha!!"

There was a collective, somewhat restrained groan from the working creatures, but Dalton didn't notice in the midst of his cackling.

* * *

The party returned to their containment cell and planned their course of action. First thing to do was clear: get their equipment back. Through the ventilation shaft they'd been able to see all of the rooms, and several storage rooms seemed likely to have their stuff. Now all they had to do was leave this cell and get moving. 

Edward banged his fist a couple of times against the door. The Basher guard standing outside the cell door smirked. "Serves 'em right," it said to no one in particular. "Without weapons they're powerless."

"What we do, Edward!?" Ayla exclaimed.

"I don't know!" the alchemist replied exasperatedly. Then, under lowered tones and away from the door, he added, "Act sick."

"Ayla healthy!" the cavewoman protested. When she earned a glare for her trouble, she added, "Edward want sick, then sick." Everyone spread out across the small room, and Ayla stood in the center. She started to clutch her stomach and make pained faces. "Uooo... Ayla... hurt bad!"

The door clicked open, and the guard rushed in. "What's wrong!?" it demanded. Ayla fell silent for a moment as the guard approached, and then quickly struck the guard's head with a well-aimed fist, knocking it out.

Ayla remained solemn for a moment. "Ayla don't like lie..." she admitted, looking somewhat guilty. Leaving the guard there, the party went out into the halls. They noticed a flying Byte robot hovering down the hall nearby, but it didn't seem to notice them. They moved to the other side of the room, passing between a couple of conveyor belts. There was another room there that they entered.

As soon as they opened the door, they found three Bashers standing around a treasure chest that immediately noticed their entrance. "Hey, you!" one of them shouted, and Alphonse, Edward, and Ayla rushed in to attack while Robo and Lucca stood to the side.

Ayla took the foremost Basher and punched it a couple of times, ending the combo with a frontward flip that drove her heel into the back of the Basher's head, sending it into the ground and destroying it. Edward transmuted his automail hand into his armblade and clashed against another Basher's staff. Alphonse simply charged forward with his shoulder in the lead while the Basher futilely tried to defend itself. That enemy ended up careening into the wall with a loud _thud_ before disappearing in red light. Edward finally broke past his enemy's defense and slashed it a few times, ending the fight quickly.

With the enemies out of the way, Lucca ran over to the chest and opened it. She pulled out a small black leather wallet. "Looks like we've got our money back!" she stated proudly, giving Alex's wallet to Edward, who put it in his pocket.

They left the room and turned right, heading up into the northern hallway and making another right. There they sneaked past another Byte and passed between more conveyor belts. It seemed that this section of the ship was rather symmetrical from left to right, and from top to bottom in some cases. Anyway, they found a doorway north of their holding cell that was guarded by two Bashers. From a distance, Edward transmuted Stonespikes out of the ground right under the Bashers, who were caught off guard and quickly defeated.

Inside was a small room with three floors connected by ladders. On the second floor was a Byte that set off sirens as soon as they were really close to it. Ayla leaped up to the third floor and dropped down onto the Byte, punching through the metal with her momentum and crushing it. With the enemy downed, Ayla rushed back up to the third floor and opened up a treasure chest there. She grinned and shouted, "Robo!"

Robo caught the fist-shaped metal that Ayla threw at him, and quickly snapped it open. He placed his hand inside the glove-like armor and snapped the extension shut. His eyes blinked once approvingly, and he nodded. "Just Edward and Lucca's weapons and our items left."

They left the room and doubled back to the conveyor belts. The one to the north led to yet another door guarded by two Bashers. Comfortable with the idea of preemptive strikes, Robo gestured for the others for duck down as his armor opened up, revealing the laser weapons he was carrying within. The lasers fired continuous beams as he started spinning around, slicing through the two Bashers at the other end of the conveyor belt along with a Byte that had been patrolling through that section of the hall.

They ran along the conveyor belt and entered through the doorway, only to enter a narrow horizontal hallway and find two more Bashers waiting for them. Apparently expecting them, one of the Bashers tried to close in on the currently defenseless Lucca, but Edward moved in and stopped the attack with the forearm of his automail arm. While they were at a standstill, Robo moved in and landed a solid punch that threw the Basher aside.

Alphonse held the other Basher in place while Lucca closed in and kicked it in the stomach, causing it to double over just as Alphonse landed a finishing blow with his fist against its back. Edward transmuted a row of Stonespikes under the first Basher to impale it, and that ended the battle.

Looking back to the hallway, it simply connected to two more doorways, hopefully storage rooms with their stuff in it. Beyond those were conveyor belts leading onward, but that wasn't their concern just yet. The party first moved into the left doorway and entered a somewhat large storage room, where a nearby Byte started blaring alarm signals. Two more Bashers jumped down from the balcony where the cargo was, and the available party members got into fighting stances.

"_Fire 2_!" Edward shouted before the enemies could launch attacks. The alchemist threw a fireball into the ground, causing a wave of explosions to spread out from the epicenter he'd created. The explosions caught the Bashers and the Byte easily, destroying them.

Lucca ran up to the cargo and found a treasure chest. In it, she found the inventory bag. They had their items back now. They left the room and were about to move on when Joumae said, _**No, let's go back. If I remember Alex's memories right, the last few pieces of equipment are down south. **_So they trekked back down through the main halls, using the conveyor belts to get down to the southern horizontal hallway. They turned to the right, where they found a ladder and a door.

In the door they found a larger storage area, with a treasure chest guarded by two Bashers. Edward grinned and dug into the inventory bag. He found an Ether and quickly drank it, restoring his magic power and emptying the bottle. Grinning wider, Edward cast a Fire spell into the empty glass bottle and hurled it at the Bashers. "Fire in the hole!" The Ether bottle exploded into many tiny glass shards, cutting the Bashers to ribbons and forcing them to disappear in red light.

Alphonse climbed up the ladder to the second level to get at the treasure chest. He opened it and shouted, "Brother!" Edward caught the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield that Alphonse threw at him.

_**Okay, Weapon Summoning 101,**_ Joumae said hastily. **_Just summon the darkness from your heart to cover your hand. Then place the Lockshield into that darkness to store it or pull it out to summon it._**

Edward raised an eyebrow, but closed his eyes and thought to himself, _Darkness... darkness..._ He suddenly felt a cold mist around his hand, and opened his eyes to find his right hand covered completely in a black smoke. He panicked and quickly lost his focus, and the dark mist soon disappeared, taking the Lockshield along with it. Edward took a deep breath to calm down and repeated the process, successfully summoning the Lockshield out of darkness without a hitch.

_**Are we done now? Let's get moving.**_

The party walked out of the room and climbed the ladder into the ventilation ducts. Joumae directed Edward on where to go, because this one seemed to be somewhat tricky. They made their way back to the spot just above their containment room, and then moved east, then north, west, north at the intersection, west at the second intersection from there, and found themselves above a room with a treasure chest and a sleeping Basher next to it.

Lucca made a shushing motion and climbed down the ladder leading into the room. The other watched nervously as the inventor quietly moved into the room, stepped around the sleeping Basher, carefully opened the chest and got her gun out. She then left just as quietly as she came, successfully avoiding a confrontation with the enemy. "That's all of it, then," she muttered, holstering her gun. "Where do we go from here?"

Edward furrowed his brow for a moment, but then said, "Joumae says that in the room where we found our normal items, there's a door that leads to where we need to go next."

* * *

The party made their way back to that room and found the door. In the small dark room beyond, they found a single ladder. Having no other option, they climbed it. What was beyond _that_ was the thing they weren't expecting. They climbed out of a small hole to find themselves on top of one of the Blackbird's wings, with the wind blowing against them! 

There were also many sentry devices patrolling the breadth of the wing, but the party made their way past them without much harm. They made it over to the far side of the wing, where the wind was especially strong. After managing to get a foothold just at the back corner, Ayla suddenly growled and got into a fighting stance.

Everyone else also felt the pressure. As Robo got into a fighting stance as well, he stated, "It's a massive magic energy reaction!"

A black portal appeared in front of them, rippling with energy. Out of it, two large golden-skinned creatures appeared. They were very large, spiky creatures with large mouths filled with big teeth, and arms that were almost skinny in comparison to the rest of their bodies. All over, they looked like they were made of stone.

"It's...!" Lucca gasped, drawing out her gun cautiously while maintaining her footing.

"These must be the Golem Twins that Dalton mentioned back in the Ocean Palace!" Alphonse shouted over the wind. "Get ready!"

Edward studied the creatures curiously, getting a bad feeling somehow. Something was out of place here, especially in how these Golem Twins looked. They kept glancing back and forth, almost in a scared way. And the way they kept glancing down and nervously at the edge of the wing...

The Fullmetal Alchemist suddenly grinned. "Aw, what's the matter? Don't tell me these things are scared of heights!"

The Golem Twins cowered away from them at the mention of it, ashamed by the truth being brought out. Everyone else was dumbfounded. For a boss battle, this was turning out to be really anticlimactic. And then, suddenly, the two Golem Twins turned around and disappeared, apparently not wanting to fight at all in these conditions.

"Phew..." Lucca sighed.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the Blackbird's hangar..._

"Mwahaha..." Dalton laughed evilly. "It's complete! I've done it!" he declared as he sat in the Epoch's seat, sneering at the controls. The Bashers that had worked on the ship were standing behind it, looking exhausted. Two large black and gold wings had been added onto the sides of the ship, and the engine in the back had been upgraded to provide the proper forward propulsion necessary.

"See these beautiful wings!" Dalton exclaimed, gesturing at what he'd wrought. "Now **this** is a King's throne. I now name it... The _Aero-Dalton Imperial!! _And **they're** gonna be my first victims!" he added, leaving no doubt as to who "they" were. Dalton flipped a switch on the upgraded dashboard of the Epoch and shouted, "_Aero-Dalton Imperial_, engage!"

Some regal, dramatic, orchestrated theme started playing as the engine revved up. Dalton's face quickly went red as he fumed. "No, no, no, no!" he shouted. "Stop the music!" The theme quickly stopped, and a new one was supplied. It had more of a beat to it this time, and the theme was undoubtedly one that spelled trouble for the adventurers. "Ha! There we go! Ready for takeoff!"

The hangar doors opened up, letting light flood into the large room. "The _Aero-Dalton Imperial_! We have liftoff, Houston!" Dalton yelled. With that, the Epoch roared out of the hangar, the propulsive force throwing the Bashers into the back wall at a lethal velocity.

* * *

_Back with our heroes..._

A small ship zoomed under the left wing of the Blackbird, clear for the party to see from their position. "Th-That's...!" Robo exclaimed, scarcely believing what his optic sensors were telling him. They quickly ran to the front of the wing to get a better look at it as it flew in circles under the Blackbird.

"Epoch fly...?" Ayla mumbled, as confused as the rest of them. And then, it suddenly hit them all with the force of a speeding train. **"It's **_**flying**_**!?"**

Down in the Epoch, Dalton shook his fist at the party and shouted, "It's not Epoch! It's the _Aero-Dalton Imperial_!" Beginning to cackle, he said, "Mwahaha! You are excess baggage! Make like the wind and blow outta here...!" Dalton pressed some buttons on the dashboard, and lasers suddenly shot from two barrels on the front underside of the ship. All five of the fighters had to dodge the blasts. "Mwaha! You are like insects to me!" Dalton exclaimed.

Edward scowled and summoned the Lockshield to his hand. "We gotta get the Epoch back! It's our only ticket outta here! Dammit, Dalton!" With that, he ran toward the edge of the wing and leaped off. Following Edward's remarkable bravery, the others followed suit.

With some measure of luck on their side for the moment, the party all landed safely on the Epoch, surrounding Dalton. Edward faced Dalton from the front, Ayla and Lucca were on the wings, and Alphonse and Robo were standing behind Dalton. All while the Epoch was still flying through the sky.

Dalton began to fume again. "You, you...! Take _this_!!!" He swept his hand toward Ayla, creating a Slash wave that knocked into Ayla. Fortunately, it didn't hit with enough force to knock her off. But it did make her angry.

"Lucca!" she shouted. "Flame! Now!" Lucca obliged and tossed a Fire spell at Ayla. The fireball started revolving around Ayla at gradually faster speeds, until it looked like her entire body was wreathed in flame. She then dashed toward Dalton and kicked him with a surprising amount of strength, then jumped into the air and kicked him from above, and finally jumped once more and landed a drill kick into Dalton's back. While she had the Fire aura around her the whole time.

Dalton was not exactly high on vitality, so he was already worse for the wear. Panicking, he shouted, "Go! Golem Boss...?" With a wave of his arm, he summoned a black portal behind him that he usually used to summon his Golems. But nothing happened. When he looked back, the portal suddenly started to suck him in. At last, the portal closed in on him with him still inside, and that was the last they saw of Dalton.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Is the Epoch okay!?" she asked no one in particular. The others were still celebrating, and the ship looked fine even with the changes. With a more serious tone, she demanded, "More importantly, did he change the _controls_!?"

Everyone piled into the seats, with Lucca at the pilot position. Robo shook his head as the bubble dome closed in on top of them. "These instruments are unfamiliar." Indeed, there were new controls and buttons and many other things. The time gauge was hardly recognizable in the midst of this mess. And the piloting controls themselves didn't look familiar to any of them.

"Oh, just start hitting buttons until we figure things out!" Edward shouted angrily, and reached past the front seat to hit a yellow button on the left side. This caused the Epoch to fire the laser weapons mounted at the front, which in turn startled the party a fair bit. The continuous beam slashed through the right wing of the Blackbird, causing explosions along the hull.

"Then try this button!" Alphonse said, reaching over to the console again. But Lucca got in the way to prevent the Elrics from touching any more buttons. Then they were all startled as a huge rumbling sound came from the Blackbird. The explosions had become ever more large and numerous, and the Blackbird finally started to fall from the sky.

In the commons back on the ground, the people there were rejoicing. "Yea!" an Earthbound man cried out. "Justice! Dalton got what he deserved!"

The elder looked to the sky, seeing the Epoch soar above them. "Woah! That ship can fly!"

Back in the Epoch, Lucca had finally finished tampering with the controls and experimenting with them. "Phew... now I get it!" she said with a sigh, grabbing the piloting controls and slowing down the Epoch's flight.

Ayla laughed playfully. "Epoch in good shape... Epoch... become bird!!"

"We were lucky!" Robo protested, trying to be the voice of reason. "If we had pressed the wrong control devices..."

"It needed a remodel anyway!" Edward argued, leaning back in his seat. He sighed to himself as Lucca steered the Epoch back toward the surviving island, glad that the chaos was over for now. But there was still the problem of getting Alexander back. It could be done, that much had been made clear. But there was still the matter of _how_ they would do it... and if they could pull it off.

They needed Alexander back anyway, Edward had to admit. Without him and his knowledge of travel between universes, there was no way he and Alphonse would be able to get back to Amestris, even after this all was over. And they still had unfinished business in their own world, let alone what troubles were befalling Amestris. So their objective for now was finding a way to bring Alex back.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	25. Convenient Paradoxes

Chapter 24  
Convenient Paradoxes

The new and improved Epoch finally touched down to the south of the survivor village. The dome covering the cockpit lifted up to let the party out, which jumped out and landed on the snowy ground at last. Edward felt rather relieved; being up in the sky on many different levels got a little unnerving after a while.

"So what do we do now?" Alphonse was the first to ask as he looked at his older brother. "We don't really have any more leads, but we still need to get Alexander back somehow."

Ayla pointed toward the Epoch. "Look in other time?"

Lucca shook her head thoughtfully. "No, Alexander got destroyed in this time. Maybe there's something else on this island that can help us." She fell silent for a little while, but then said, "Lets head back to the commons and check on everyone."

The party hiked west back to the dead forest where the survivors were gathered. Upon seeing them, all of the villagers let out a cheer of joy. After all, it was they who had taken out the tyrannical Dalton once and for all. They'd basically made _everyone's_ day.

However, a lead did finally come up. One of the children was running around the clearing with a familiar violet-furred cat chasing after it playfully. Alphonse was the first to notice this. Also, some of the Enlightened survivors told the party that someone had just come through the commons very recently, looking for them. An Earthbound survivor confirmed that the stranger was still on the cape to the north.

So the party quickly traveled to the north cape, coming to a cliff overlooking the endless sea. Dark clouds loomed over the horizon, with a small sliver of light peeking through and reflecting off the water. The scenery was a message of doom and hope all at once.

Edward stepped nearer to the edge of the cliff, but they had seen nothing. Perhaps the stranger had already left...

They suddenly heard a quick shifting sound behind them, and they all turned to face it... but nothing was there. The noise was heard a second time, and the party turned swiftly to find their target standing in front of the cliff's edge. A pale-skinned man with a blue cape. "So, it's you..."

The entire party recoiled. "Magus...!" Lucca muttered, shocked by his entrance. Then, as they regained their senses, the entire party took fighting stances. As far as they were concerned, he was still an enemy.

Magus looked out toward the sea, ignoring the fighters' hostile gestures. "Behold. Everything's at the bottom of the sea. Gone is the magical kingdom of Zeal, and all the dreams and ambitions of its people." Then, facing the party with cold eyes, he stated, "I once lived there... But I was another person then."

* * *

Magus explained how, in his personal timeline, he was involved in the entire ordeal. It had been some time ago, in the Mammon Machine. Things had gone differently then than they'd gone this time around. That was mainly because the presence of Magus, Alexander, and the rest of the party had gone and screwed things up. But how it had gone originally... 

The Mammon Machine had been overloading. Queen Zeal was standing in front of the Machine, gazing on with awe and admiration. Schala was nearby as well, panicking. Right behind the two of them were three old men, being the Gurus. Belthasar, the Guru of Reason; Gaspar, the Guru of Time; and Melchior, the Guru of Life.

As warning lights flashed and sirens blared, the space around them began to warp strangely. "Hmm...!" Gaspar mumbled, though he was a bit panicked. "A dimensional warp!"

"This power is beyond human control!" Belthasar shouted.

Melchior paled as the warping became more erratic. "No...! We'll be dragged into the warp!"

"**Schala!!**" a voice called from behind them. Everyone turned around to see Janus and his loyal cat Alfador running up the walkway.

Schala's eyes widened at the sight of her little brother. "No, Janus!! Stay away!" she shouted back, motioning for him to clear the area immediately.

"B-But...!?" Janus stammered, not sure what to say.

The flashing red lights became gradually brighter and brighter until everyone's vision was overwhelmed by light. When the light faded, everyone there had ended up in the bright shining blue space, with the Mammon Machine with them as well. Lavos's and Elaeus's pocket dimension. With a flash, Lavos appeared in the place of the Mammon Machine, with Elaeus grinning atop it.

Suddenly, a black portal appeared under Melchior, and he was quickly sucked into it. "It's... It's a...!" he stuttered, before the portal closed and cut off whatever he was going to say.

A similar portal appeared under Gaspar. "A Timegate!?" Gaspar exclaimed as he was sucked in as well. With a cry, Belthasar met a similar fate.

"S-Schalaaa!!" Janus screamed as another Gate sucked him in, whisking him away from that time period for good. Schala rushed forward, screaming his name, but she finally fell down in despair.

Presumably, Melchior had appeared in Medina Village of 1000 AD, through the Gate that had appeared in the Imps' cupboard. Belthasar had appeared in the back of a ruined dome in 2300 AD. And Gaspar... had gone to the place that was exempt from the flow of time.

Janus, on the other hand, appeared in a clearing in Truce Canyon, in the time of 600 AD. Ozzie had been right there at the time, and had quickly sent in a few Imps to seize the poor boy...

* * *

Edward's entire expression turned to one of shock. "You...!" he mumbled, but didn't find any more works to express his epiphany. He took a deep breath to collect himself, and then tentatively said, "You're... Janus?" 

Magus let out an annoyed grunt, but he nodded ever so slightly. He turned back out toward the sea. "Ever since Lavos's time portal stranded me in the Middle Ages..." he growled, "I have waited to even the score. You interrupted me just when I had summoned Lavos to my castle." Suddenly, he chuckled. "How ironic that, having been drawn into yet another portal, I would end up in this age."

"Being from the future," Magus continued, "my knowledge of the past enabled me to convince the Queen that I was a mighty oracle. But no history book could have prepared me for what happened here. _Unimaginable_ is the power of Elaeus. Anyone who dares to oppose... them... meets certain doom. At this rate, you too... will meet a hideous fate. Just like that poor fool, Alexander!"

Tension swept across the area, making everyone there wary. Lucca glared at Magus. "...It's _your_ fault that Alexander isn't here!" she deduced finally.

Magus glared back and tightened one of his gloves. "He's history! Play with fire and you get burned."

"Pig!!!" Lucca snarled, and aimed her gun at Magus threateningly.

"You wish to fight me?" the wizard asked with a serious tone. A moment went by, and it seemed to everyone that a fight would break out.

Edward suddenly stepped in. "Hold it!" he shouted, placing his automail hand on the business end of Lucca's gun, and holding out his other to Magus. "We're both after the same thing here! We all want to destroy Lavos! The will of the Lockshield, Joumae, is with me now, so we still have the power to fight the Heartless!" To emphasize his point, he summoned the Crimson Catalyst in his left hand.

Lucca seemed to struggle with herself for a few moments, and then finally put the gun away. "You're... you're right. Fighting you won't bring Alexander back."

The wizard stared at the Lockshield for a few moments, but then turned around and looked out to sea. It seemed that he would exchange no more words with them. Edward sighed and dismissed the Lockshield, and started back down the hill from the cliff. At length, Lucca, Alphonse, Robo, and Ayla followed him down.

"Wait," Magus said. Everyone stopped and watched as Magus walked toward them. When he had their attention, he simply stated, "I'll come with you."

_**About freakin' time!!**_

"Pardon!?" Lucca gasped.

Magus tightened his other glove. "That shield's design determines what abilities he uses, right? I doubt you," he said, looking at Edward, "can use all of those abilities outside your own. So we still need Alexander in the end. ...You know, there just might be a way to bring him back."

"Joumae said as much," Edward agreed, "but he didn't say exactly how."

"Gaspar, the Guru of Time," Magus explained, "knows how to restore lost or misplaced time streams..."

"Then we'll need to talk to him first, then," Lucca reasoned. "That's simple enough. But first, if you're going to be a party member, we'll need to even it out."

Magus quirked an eyebrow. Alphonse jumped into the explanation. "There's this Conservation of Time thing that only allows three people to go through the time warp at one time. Alex, Edward, and I were exempt from it, but it was basically the way we're forced to only have three of you guys with us at any one time."

"Ah," Magus replied, "that would explain why I saw different people in your group each time. You guys kept switching out people." With a smirk, he said, "That means that little Frog will be in for a big surprise..."

Edward summoned the Lockshield. "So who's going?" he had to ask.

"Definitely not me," Lucca stated immediately. Edward gave her an odd look, but quickly dropped it. Joumae, however, couldn't resist throwing in a remark that only confused the elder Elric further...

_**Oho! I didn't know the feeling was partially mutual...**_

Ayla finally volunteered, and Edward sent her to the End of Time. From there, the party (now including Magus) moved back down to where the Epoch was parked. Magus was surprised when Robo explained that it was the thing that had gotten them back into this age. "So that's the machine Belthasar had been working on..." was all Magus really said about it.

Everyone piled into the Epoch, and Lucca gave Edward a quick briefing on how the piloting controls worked. Since he was one of the permanent members of the party, he might as well know, she'd said. Edward took ahold of the controls, and the Epoch took off.

The Fullmetal Alchemist flew the Epoch around for a while, just to get the hang of the controls. The island they had left was pretty much one of the only stable landmasses remaining. And definitely the only one with any human life on it. It was kind of sad to know, but it became intriguing when one wondered how it all came together over the next nine millenia.

Suddenly, the time gauge started going haywire, with the dial moving forward and backward through the scale erratically. Lucca glanced over the systems and gasped. "We're getting some interference from an enormous Gate! ...It can't be! Lavos!?"

"The Epoch's space-time compass has gone haywire!" Robo exclaimed, realizing what the haywire dial meant.

Magus nearly stood up in his seat. "That's...!"

In the air above the small island to the southwest, an absolutely humongous warping of space occurred. It was diamond-shaped, and there were many sparks along the outside of the warping. Something appeared in the warp, the image wavering at first but becoming more clear as the gigantic thing finally stabilized itself in the current time. It was a gigantic floating... machine of some kind. Like a factory, or a floating palace made completely of metal.

Edward looked at the giant floating object, then toward the ship's controls. He scowled at what he saw. "It looks like we're gonna get sucked in there," he said as the Epoch was slowly drawn toward the unnamed satellite.

"It's enormous!" Robo declared. "I'm picking up a tremendous amount of spiritual power!"

Magus stared at the large object for a long while. "...The undersea Palace?" he muttered to himself quietly. "This is impossible...!"

_**...Edward,**_ Joumae said quickly, his tone unusually serious. **_Get away from that now. Turn this thing around!_**

"Huh?" Edward mumbled, but obliged and started piloting the Epoch away from the floating palace. The pull it was experiencing soon faded away as the unidentified object completely stabilized. Once the Epoch was on a completely perpendicular course, Edward asked aloud, "Joumae, what the heck is that thing?"

_**Something called the Black Omen,**_ Joumae replied. **_It's Queen Zeal's new hideout. Lavos and Elaeus are powering that thing, and that floating factory would be one of the ways we get at them._**

"The Black Omen..." Edward repeated slowly as everyone looked at the palace from the side.

Magus looked at Edward and then the Black Omen. "Are we getting on that thing?" he asked after a long silence. "If the Mammon Machine's there..."

_**We're not,**_ Joumae replied as Magus trailed off. **_I didn't get ahold of all of Alex's memories, but I do know that the way to bring him back is _not_ through the Black Omen. We need to leave this time alone._**

Edward relayed the information. The time gauge finally calmed down, and they were ready to start time-traveling again. For once, Edward felt rather relieved. They'd been in the Dark Ages for so long that he had been very anxious to get out of it. Of course, now that just about everything else was obliterated in this era of time, there really wasn't much more havoc to cause.

Edward finally flipped the time gauge past the Future mark and set the coordinates toward the End of Time. He pressed the activation button, and the Epoch sharply accelerated forward, speeding up until it had reached the velocity necessary to travel through time. A bright flash shone from their departure point as they disappeared from that time.

* * *

The Epoch came to a stop in the middle of the empty void that was the End of Time. As is turned out, there was a small walkway on the other side of the central platform that served as a great place to disembark, so that's where they parked the ship, and they stepped onto the platform. 

Marle, Ayla, and Frog looked toward them as they arrived. Crono was taking a well-deserved nap at the moment. Frog simply glared at Magus as he arrived on the platform as well. Magus returned the gaze with a steady, indifferent one.

Frog averted his eyes and grunted. "Ayla hast explained the situation to me," he stated, but his true feelings were not at all veiled by his tone. Understandable, but that could become a problem in the heat of battle if the two were together in the party. It was something that Edward took upon himself to consider.

The old man standing under the lamppost awoke with a start. He looked toward the party, and then started looking past them questioningly. "Hey, where's that rude kid with the radical haircut?" he asked quite bluntly.

Everyone except Magus hung their heads in despair. The old man was quite stunned by this. "This is terrible news..." With a sigh, he said, "I wish I could lend a hand..."

"Only the Guru of Time can help us now..." Magus pointed out.

The old man grinned at the wizard. "Hey, where have you been?" His grin settled into a respectful smile. "So that's your story... And just **look** at you now... You've become quite formidable!"

"Heh..." Magus smirked, but he kept his gaze on the old man.

"The Guru of Time, eh...?" the old man echoed once he got back on track. "Heard of him, of course, but what do you want with him?"

"We believe he knows how to bring Alexander back to life," Lucca stated firmly.

"To bring back lost loved ones..." the old man mumbled with a sigh. "It's what everyone wants... Alexander must be proud... to have friends like you."

Lucca blushed furiously, but Alphonse stepped in. "It's not like that! It's not about bringing someone back from the dead." Edward and Alphonse exchanged an understanding look, and the younger one continued, "It's about bringing back the only one who can defeat Elaeus and restore order to our worlds!"

The old man looked down at his cane for a moment, seeming to be deep in thought. At last, he held out something and said, "Here. Take this with you." He knelt down for a moment and placed the object on the ground.

Robo glanced at it. "This is... an egg of some sort?"

"Let us call that the Chrono Trigger," the old man replied. "It is pure potential. By unleashing a specific course of events, it can have a powerful effect on time. Ask the one who made the Epoch, your Wings of Time, how to hatch it..."

There was a pause. "Like any egg," the old man went on, "it represents a possibility... It may or may not... hatch. But the Chrono Trigger gives you the potential to get the Interference back... The egg will have an effect equal to the effort you put into your search. No more, and no less. Don't forget that. As long as you keep Alexander in your heart, the day you are dreaming of shall arrive..."

Edward nodded. If there was anything he'd learned by traveling to other worlds, it was that the heart was the most important thing to have set upon something. The power of hearts was very difficult to defeat, especially when it is manifested through great numbers.

"I get it..." Magus said finally. "It's you, isn't it...?"

Lucca came to the same epiphany. "It _**is**_ you, isn't it!? You're Gaspar, the Guru of Time!"

It was the old man's turn to blush a little. He adjusted the hat on his head and grinned sheepishly. "Um... well... I believe that's what they used to call me... ages ago..."

* * *

Edward pocketed the Chrono Trigger, and declared that Robo would be switched out for Frog. Magus and Frog both protested against this, naturally, but Edward insisted upon it anyway. The sooner they got used to working together, the better. Lucca, of course, wasn't going to be swayed in her decision to stay, and Edward was beginning to see what Joumae was talking about... Indeed, the thought brought a grin to his face. 

The party of Edward, Alphonse, Lucca, Frog, and Magus got into the Epoch and fired up the engine. _**Now, I know that Gaspar told us to go to Belthasar's old place, **_Joumae commented, _**but there's actually something we should do first to get out of the way.**_

"Something we need to do first?" Edward repeated, less for his sake than for relating to the others what he was hearing.

_**Yeah. For this thing to work, we need an exact clone of Alexander. Don't ask why, we just do. And apparently, that Bekkler fellow in the Present era should be able to help us with that.**_

Edward relayed the information. Lucca quickly filled in the missing information. "Oh, you mean Norstein Bekkler's lab, the Tent of Horrors at the Millenial Fair? Yeah, if anyone can make a clone, it would probably be him."

They took off and traveled back to the Present era, 1000 AD. One of the first things they saw as they flew back toward Truce Village was the Black Omen, floating over Melchior's hut. Lucca looked a little downcast at this; the Black Omen's presence meant that the people of the world had been looking at the ugly thing for thousands of years. A black omen, indeed.

They disembarked the Epoch in the woods next to the Millenial Fair, and the five fighters walked back onto the fairgrounds. Alphonse looked around curiously, rather surprised by something. "Funny, this place hasn't really changed much since we left, has it? It's like _déjà vu_."

"Well, let's not waste too much time," Edward cut in. "So how exactly are we gonna get this clone from Bekkler?" he added as they walked toward the Tent of Horrors.

_**We have to play the 40-point game,**_ Joumae replied. **_That'll earn us the clone._**

"Wait, we need Silver Points for this!?" Lucca exclaimed after Edward repeated the information. She groaned exasperatedly, and muttered, "Geez, why didn't you tell us this before? I'll be right back." With that, she ran off toward the north end of the fair, leaving the other four fighters standing there with confused expressions.

* * *

In the northeast section of Leene Square, there was a small arena where Lucca had set up her robot battle trainer, Gato. It was a very large, pink and red robot with spikes on its head that were supposed to represent cat ears. The only weapon it really had was a comically-sized boxing glove on a spring that would punch out from his torso. It was mostly for entertainment purposes than for actual battle training. Lucca had to admit that it wasn't one of her best inventions. 

As Lucca approached, Gato began to sing in its robotic voice:

_They call me Gato,  
I have metal joints..._

It wasn't exactly the best singing she'd ever heard. Clamping her hands over her ears, she shouted at the top of her longs, "Gato! Protocol 'Taban Emergency Charity'!"

Gato immediately stopped singing and turned around. The armor plating in the back of the robot opened up, revealing the stash of Silver Points it had been given to distribute to winners. But right now, it was Lucca's for the taking. She took exactly 40 points' worth and closed up the plating.

Lucca ran toward the edge of the clearing, shouted, "Normal protocol!" and got away before Gato starting singing again.

* * *

"Woah, where'd you get all that so quickly!?" Edward shouted as Lucca presented them with the required amount of points. It had taken all of about three minutes. 

"Trade secret," Lucca said with a grin as Edward took the Silver Points from her hand. "Now, let's get this over with and move on."

The Elrics found themselves in the strange cave-tent once again. The face and hands of Bekkler floating in midair and moved backward as the party entered. Bekkler cackled and said, "The spine-tingling show is about to start!"

"Yeah, whatever," Edward muttered. "Listen, remember Alexander, who was in here with us last time? We need a clone of him."

Bekkler suddenly scowled. "Ah, yes. That boy who had helped Crono win the little game, right? Yes, I saw his little motions," he added before anyone else could ask. "But his observational skill was somewhat admirable, so I'd let it slide. But you need a clone of him, you say?"

"So, are you going to do it?" Lucca demanded. She hadn't gotten those Silver Points for nothing.

"Yes, yes," Bekkler said irritably. "Normally I'd never do this, but today I'll make an exception. Challenge me, and I'll give you a clone. But no discount here! Give me the 40 Points up front, and I'll let you play until you win. The longer you last, the lower my price will be."

Lucca handed over the points. Bekkler took them and hid them somewhere, and grinned maniacally again. "Mimic what you see the clone do!" he instructed as Edward stepped forward to take the challenge. "He'll raise one of his arms, laugh, or look surprised. Mimic it quickly, 'cause he'll change faster as you reach the end!"

The gate in the back opened up, and a clone of Alexander himself walked out of the gate to their surprise. Though it was quite obvious that it wasn't really Alex. There were stitches along the side that showed where the covering had been sewn together. That, and the eyes were really lifeless.

"Start when you hear the signal," Bekkler stated. "And... _action_!"

A bell sounded off, and the clone raised its left arm. Edward raised his right arm to mirror it. A few moments passed, and then the clone began to laugh. Somewhat bemused but determined as well, Edward mimicked the expression of mirth. Then the clone's laughter altogether ceased as it got took on a surprised look. Edward tried his best to look surprised as well, but the look on the Alex clone's face was simply priceless, frozen as it was. He started to laugh.

A buzzer went off, and Edward scoffed at it. "Aw, c'mon! That thing **made** me laugh! It's not like I was _trying_ to go against it!"

"Rules are rules," Bekkler stated simply. "You failed to mimic him even vaguely. I'll take 10,000 gold, then."

Edward sighed and fished out the requested amount of gold pieces from Alex's wallet. When the transaction was made, the clone suddenly deactivated, and Bekkler pushed it into Lucca's arms. The mechanic girl began to blush again. "There," Bekkler stated. "It's yours now. Good luck with it!"

Lucca quickly stuffed the clone into the inventory bag and did her best to keep her face away from the others. Frog and Magus, though, were united in their amusement.

* * *

With the clone of Alexander ready to go, the party boarded the Epoch once more and traveled further through time, ending up back in the Future era. From there, they flew to the southeast, going to the small continent that Keeper's Dome was situated upon. They also noticed that the Black Omen, still floating just the same after so many more centuries, was right above the tall mountain that was Death Peak. 

Their objective now was to confront what was left of Belthasar to find out what they needed to do next. They entered the dome, and not unexpectedly found the main control room to be completely void of life. Lucca held up Marle's pendant to the obsidian panel in the back. After a bright flash of light, the door opened up for them, giving way to the back of the dome.

In the back, just in front of the door leading to the Epoch's old hangar, was the Nu creature in which the remainder of Belthasar's consciousness still existed. Alphonse quickly shook the creature, which woke up with a start.

"On 'Death Peak'," Belthasar stated with a tone that implied he already knew their reason for coming, "you will find the power to restore life. But to activate this power, the deceased must be important to the space-time continuum. And you **must** have a clone identical to that person. Only then... can the Chrono Trigger work its magic..."

The creature sighed. "Enough. The time has come for you to attempt 'Death Peak.' It's the only chance you have of reviving your friend. The last program I've implanted in this creature's memory banks will help you up the mountain. Stand back."

The party backed away from the Nu. It turned around and opened up the door behind it, then quickly went inside. After a few moments, there was a spark of electricity, and the Nu suddenly came flying out, sizzling. It landed on its stomach with a loud crash.

"Belthasar!" Magus shouted in surprise.

There were a few Soldier Heartless coming out from the small doorway. Lucca quickly took a few shots at the dark creatures, and Magus dashed forward to finish them off with his scythe.

The Nu creatures Belthasar's mind was inhabiting let out a few raspy coughs, and all five fighters gathered around it. "Those Heartless... They destroyed the programs I had created to help you scale 'Death Peak'... I cannot help you..."

Edward scowled at this development, but said firmly, "Doesn't matter now. We'll find a way to scale that peak anyway. We don't have any other choice."

The Nu nodded. "I certainly hope your abilities will allow you to remedy this change..." Belthasar closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked up at all of them sadly. "This ends my message. Now I must ask you a favor. ...This creature has executed its program. Please, let him sleep. The switch is on his stomach." The creature then closed its eyes and started to breathe softly in sleep.

Alphonse rolled the Nu replica over until it was on its back. Edward looked closely at its stomach, and found a small switch right above the center of its belly. An air of silence washed over the party as Edward reached over and switched the creature off. The Nu stopped breathing and became completely still.

Edward stood up and began to walk away, remaining silent. Slowly, the party walked away from the creature, allowing it to sleep beyond the flow of time. Belthasar had given them all the help he could possibly have offered. Now it was their time to take action. If they didn't bring Alexander back now, once and for all, every world he'd Interfered in would be in serious trouble.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	26. Death Peak

Chapter 25  
Death Peak

Frog looked up to the sky as the party traveled north to Death Peak itself. The Black Omen was still suspended in the air, living up to its name as it cast a gigantic shadow on one side of the mountain. "Elaeus still look'eth down upon us," the deformed knight muttered, with one hand straying toward the hilt of the Masamune.

Magus rolled his eyes. "He's been doing that for over three-hundred years by now," he noted pointedly. "Why should it make a difference now? There's no need to be so melodramatic, _Toad_." This earned him a critical glare from Frog.

_**Chances are,**_ Joumae cut in, **_he's taking a long nap right now. After all, dominion over a dead planet can get pretty boring beyond fifty years or so._**

"Would you guys just cut it out?" Edward groaned as he led the way, speaking more to Joumae than anyone else. "I'm sure he'd love to have front row seats to us tearing each other apart."

An air of malcontent hung between Frog and Magus, but the other three party members did their best to remain out of that aura. As it was, they were now approaching the base of Death Peak.

The snow-laden gusts of wind came at random as they neared the first ascent. Generally, they were pretty strong, but the party was able to run against it. As they tried to beat the wind, all of a sudden the wind slowed down on them... And then, just as suddenly, it picked up with amazing force; it was enough to throw even Alphonse off his feet and carry him all the way to the beginning of the approach.

Edward landed on his back, but quickly sat up and glared at the path ahead. "Damn it!" he cursed. "That wind's gonna keep throwing us out before we can get past it!"

"This must be one of its first defenses," Magus suggested. "It might be the thing Belthasar's programs might have helped with."

Frog's eyes narrowed. "But we lack Belthasar's assistance now. What is to be done, Sir Elric?"

Alphonse looked at the path carefully, feeling the wind as it continued a pattern of medium gusts, then a small portion of no wind, then the ever-strong gale before repeating itself again. "If only we had something to hide behind when the wind got to its strongest..."

Lucca nodded. "Well, if that's all we need, then that can be easily arranged. Right, Edward?" she added, looking at the elder Elric meaningfully.

"...Right," Edward replied as the idea came to him at last. He ran forward as the wind calmed down, and the others followed. They kept running until the wind suddenly came to a stop. At that point, Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the ground, transmuting a gigantic vertical stone slab from the snowy earth.

Everyone hid behind the stone wall as the wind picked up. The sound made by the wind rushing past the obstruction was annoying, but the party was completely safe from the gusts. When the wind resumed its normal pace, the party ran out again and repeated the process. They did this until they had left that valley and reached the wall of the cliffs, which had no abnormally strong gales.

From there, the path turned left as it went along the cliff face. There was a point where the path came to an angle, and there was a set of indents in the rock wall that made for a decent ladder. However, as soon as they approached it, two Fortunetellers and a Cannon Gun Heartless appeared from the darkness in front of the makeshift ladder.

In an instant, Frog had unsheathed the Masamune. "Desist, Heartless!" he shouted, charging into the fray. One of the Fortunetellers charged up some Blizzard crystals and fired them at Frog, who blocked them with the broad side of his blade. Frog slashed downward on the attacking Heartless, then slashed upward again for good measure, managing to shake the ice crystals off the Masamune in the process. The Fortuneteller had no chance.

Magus suddenly zoomed into the battle, slicing the Cannon Gun just as it was about to fire. The Cannon Gun exploded into nothingness, and the other Fortuneteller immediately prepared to attack in response. Magus, however, made some quick gestures with his hands and pointed at the Heartless, intoning, "_Dark Bomb_!" Orbs of darkness spread out around the magician's body, then converged on the Heartless. What happened upon contact was nothing less than an _implosion_ of dark energy, creating an almost inverted color effect behind the Dark Bomb's radius.

Frog and Magus gave each other competitive looks as the battle finished. Edward heard Joumae chuckle into his head. _**Well, if they keep competing like that, we might not have to fight at all!**_ While Edward never truly appreciated Joumae's comments, he had to admit that the thought was amusing.

Lucca set the example by being the first to climb up the ladder, and the others followed. They stood on the second level of the cliffs and walked along the narrow path to the right, which at a fork sloped down into a clearing where a throng of Shadows were meandering around. Frog took the initiative and conjured up a Water 2 spell that washed through the weaker Heartless, defeating them in one shot. Frog smirked as Magus shot him a glare.

The party went to the north of the clearing and found another ladder, the landing of which led to a clearing to the right. In that clearing, three Armored Knight Heartless were waiting for them, and two more Fortunetellers appeared as the first few Heartless got ready to attack.

Frog and Magus simultaneously rushed toward the Armored Knights with weapons drawn. Meanwhile, Lucca started firing her gun at one of the Fortunetellers. One of the Knights was cut down as Frog grabbed it with his long tongue and slashed across it with remarkable force. The other two were taken out by Magus, who snared them on the inside of his scythe's radius and flung them around until the blade dug into their dark bodies.

One of the Fortunetellers fired a cluster of ice crystals, but Edward summoned the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield to block it. He then summoned up his own magic and launched a simple Fire spell onto the Fortuneteller. The elemental advantage gave the attack enough power to defeat the foe with that single shot. Then the other floating enemy kept busy by Lucca's attacks was finally cut down by a leaping slash delivered by Frog.

Edward looked around at their current surroundings. Straight ahead of them, there was a slope leading downward to a clearing that seemed to end at the next cliff wall. But to the left, there was a path above the clearing that led into some kind of cave. Closing his eyes, he thought, _Alright Joumae, what's next?_

**_Well, it seems that we go into the cave first, _**Joumae replied. **_We'll run into one of Lavos's spawns..._**

"We'll**_ what!?_**" Edward exclaimed, not really believing what he was hearing. The others gave him strange looks, not aware of what Edward was hearing._Lavos... had frickin'_**_ reproduced!?_**

_**Yeah, scary thought. It's basically a mini-Lavos. Once we get past that, we scale to the space above the cave and cross over to the path above the other side of this clearing, where we'll find a switch to open up the main path through the cave in the middle, down there in the clearing...**_

Edward sighed. The news hadn't exactly improved on the whole "Lavos spawn" concept. "So let me get this straight," he said, mainly to illustrate it to the others as well as clarify it for himself. "We need to go around the main path... in order to open it up? There's a mini-Lavos in the way, and we'll need to backtrack all the way here when we're done?"

A silence, both in Edward's head and on the outside, took up the space after Edward had finished. Finally, Alphonse pitched in and said, "Um... can't we find a way around that? It seems a little long-winded, even for this kind of game..."

"Damn right!" Edward noted, and there were murmurs of agreement among the others. Edward ran down the slope into the clearing, and then dashed over to the middle of the cliff wall. He started running his hands across the rock, looking for a place where a hidden door might be. After a few seconds of this, he found a sort of seam inbetween some rocks that made an arch connecting to the ground. This was probably their entrance.

Edward dismissed the Lockshield in an inky black smoke, clapped his hands, and placed them on the wall. A bright flash of blue sparks occurred, but there was an opening in the wall when it faded that led deep into the cave in question. "Let's get going!" Edward shouted, not wasting any time with this development.

All five fighters ran into the cave, and immediately found a set of stone stairs carved into the rock, which they started climbing. Upon reaching the first landing, they were able to look down into the section of the cave to the left, where the supposed "Lavos spawn" was waiting. Everyone cringed at the sight. Indeed, just as Joumae had described, it was a miniature Lavos.

And it had noticed them. There was some movement from the top of its spiny back, which Magus immediately noticed. "Run!" he shouted, and all the fighters started dashing up the next sets of stairs. From above them, several large needles from the Lavos spawn's body began to rain down on them, crashing into the stairs as they ran. Each impact caused slight tremors that threatened to throw all of them off their feet as they climbed.

"Sonuva...!" Edward cursed as one needle fell behind him, filling the space he'd been in only a second before.

With some fortune, however, they managed to reach the top landing and find the exit of the cave. Once again they were out in the snowy environs, and they reached a corner in the path leading to their left. However, as if to spite their luck, there was _yet another Lavos spawn_ blocking the path onward. This time, there was no getting around it.

_**Attack its head!**_ Joumae shouted as the mini-Lavos let out its familiar cry. Edward relayed the advice and clapped his hands. Upon placing his hands on the ground, blue alchemic reactions crawled along the snowy ground and encircled around the Lavos spawn. Suddenly, sections of stone began to rise out of the ground and bend across the top of Lavos. Within seconds, Lavos had a large stone canopy quite literally covering its spiky shell.

Lavos tried to launch some of its needles, but it ran into complications. The needles got lodged into the giant slab of stone covering it, becoming embedded in the stone. By some manner of luck, the needles were still partially connected to the spawn's body all the same, so it caused pain and restricting the spawn's movement. With their opening clearly established, Alphonse rushed in and started a series of swift punches and kicks to the spawn's head. Alphonse just about pummeled the spawn's head to death, and in a minute of this torture the spawn was beginning to fade into red light.

Edward transmuted his stone barrier away as the Lavos spawn completely faded away. He couldn't help but smirk to himself. Being an alchemist definitely made improvisation fun. That mini-boss might have been hard if they'd been forced to use the conventional battle style for this world.

The party walked on. They found themselves looking at a narrow, winding land bridge spanning two of the smaller peaks on their side of the mountain. Looking down below, they could see the clearing they'd just had to go through.

Lucca took a few tentative steps forward onto the rocky bridge. Out of nowhere, wind began to blow against her, and her feet found little friction on the icy ground. She began to slip and slide over the edge of the cliff.

"Lucca!" Alphonse shouted, reached forward and grabbing her hand as she fell, catching her in midair. With some effort, Alphonse managed to pull her up onto normal ground. The mechanic girl looked a little shaken, but otherwise okay.

"That's gonna be tricky," Lucca admitted. "It's very slippery, and there's nothing to hold onto at all..."

Edward grinned. "That's where alchemy comes in handy," he replied, and clapped his hands again. This time, he transmuted a moderately tall slab of rock along the entire bridge, with a rail sticking out of it. The party moved along the bridge, holding onto the rail so as to not slip and pressing against the stone as the wind pushed them. They made it without any trouble whatsoever, and Edward was beaming at his consistent ingenuity.

They now found themselves facing a long wide path at a slight downward slope, leading back toward the general area they'd just been in. What was surprising about this was that there was a constant chain of Rapid Thruster Heartless falling down from the cliff directly above them, and then moving along down the path toward the end, where the disappeared and went back to the beginning to do it all over again.

However, they didn't seem to take notice of the party as they passed on. Magus even managed to jump into the middle of the path and dodge the Heartless as they passed by, but they still attracted no attention. It seemed they would only be attacked if they made physical contact. After studying the route all of the Rapid Thrusters seemed to be following, the party moved one by one past the gauntlet of streaming Heartless until they had completely cleared it.

They were now on a path overlooking the first couple of areas they'd already been in. The path made a U-turn, then led to a small downward ladder. From there, they headed south then west along a narrow path along the cliff, and then walked up a somewhat steep slope to reach a large dead-end clearing. There was, once again, a Lavos spawn in the back corner, and it slowly approached them. Without a word, Magus and Frog dashed forward with weapons drawn simultaneously. Unfortunately, the smaller Lavos spawn's head was a relatively small target, and the two fighters' weapons clashed as they swung as one. The rebound caused them to miss their target completely, instead uselessly striking the spawn's spiky shell.

As a reflex, the Lavos spawn shot needles from its back, which flew high into the air before plummeting down toward Lucca, Edward, and Alphonse. Edward and Lucca managed to dodge the needles, but one somehow got lodged in the narrow space between Alphonse's helmet and the collar of his armor. It stunned Alphonse for a moment, and Edward and Lucca were still getting back to their feet.

"Get out of my way, Frog!" Magus shouted, raising his scythe menacingly.

Frog raised the Masamune to block a potential attack. He wasn't expecting anything less of Magus. But Edward quickly grabbed them and pulled them out of immediate proximity with the Lavos spawn, and also shaking them from their battle stances. "Would you two just _**stop**_ it!?" Edward demanded angrily, his patience all but gone. Frog and Magus looked a little shocked by the sudden intervention.

"Look, we've had our differences," Edward explained. "We're done now! And we're all after the same thing! If you two keep on trying to fight each other, we'll never defeat Lavos. It's as simple as that!"

The two rivals looked at each other. Edward continued, "Drop whatever grudge you have, and let's start working together, okay? Or I'll kick _both_ of you guys out of the party, and you can try defeating Lavos yourselves."

This seemed to strike home. By then, Alphonse had managed to dislodge the needle from his armor and, in a flash of inspiration, use it like a javelin. He hurled it toward the Lavos spawn, and it landed true – right into a small opening between the spikes of its back. The spawn roared in pain, stunned for the moment. Lucca fired a shot at the Lavos spawn's head, and looked at the rest of the party expectantly, confused at the lack of participation from the melee fighters.

Frog and Magus nodded at each other. Frog dashed forward toward the stunned spawn, brandishing the Masamune. Magus held back and channeled his Shadow magic, focusing it onto the Masamune. The blade was covered with a deep obsidian hue that covered the entire blade. Frog jumped into the air and brought the blade to the spawn's face with all the force he could muster. When the Masamune made contact, the Shadow magic was released, causing a bolt of dark energy to course through the Lavos spawn's head. This, along with the force of the initial slash, was enough to be the final blow on the spawn.

The Lavos spawn faded into red light... for the most part. The main body disappeared, but the spiky shell actually remained where it was, tilting backwards due to the lack of mass supporting it. Edward raised an eyebrow at this, and was about to question Joumae...

_**Move the shell, climb the shell,**_ Joumae stated, already way ahead of him.

Edward looked toward the right side of the clearing, and saw that there was a makeshift rock ladder in the cliff ahead of them, but it only extended halfway from the top. The place where it ended was about the same height as the Lavos spawn's shell...

"Hey, Alphonse," Edward said finally, getting an idea. "Can you move the shell over there, near that ladder?"

Magus looked surprised. "You can't be serious..."

Alphonse nodded. "Gotcha!" He walked over to the shell, picked it up with surprising ease, and carried it over to the base of the cliff where the ladder was. As expected, the top of the shell was right under the cutoff of the makeshift ladder. Once Alphonse set it securely against the cliff face, he tentatively climbed the spikes. It held rather firmly, and he managed to make it up to the top of the cliff.

"That's an interesting use..." Frog remarked, sheathing the Masamune and walking toward the shell.

* * *

They had finally managed to reach the very peak of Death Peak itself. There was absolutely no precipitation going on here; the only snow was on the ground, sparkling with the light from the dim sun above them. Edward was surprised; there was a small break in the dark clouds above them, letting the full radiance shine down on the peak. He had never seen the sun in this time era before, ever. 

There was one lone, withered tree overlooking the edge of the cliff. Lucca stepped forward, looking excited. "So, _this_ is the summit of Death Peak!"

Edward nodded, and pulled the Chrono Trigger egg out of his pocket. Lucca took the egg from him and held it in her hands. She then closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate. "You who fear the night and fight the coming of darkness..." she chanted. "...Give us strength!!"

Frog nodded and began to concentrate as well, focusing his heart. "Alexander!" He was holding Marle's pendant in his hands. All at once, the pendant began to give off its familiar blue glow.

"The pendant's reacting!" Alphonse shouted, sounding just as excited as the others. It seemed possible; they just might be able to get Alexander back with this method!

Frog held the pendant toward the Chrono Trigger. The blue aura began to transfer from the pendant to the Trigger in small bursts, making the egg begin to shine with its own faint, white aura. A ringing sound coursed through the air as the Chrono Trigger began to rise into the air, its silhouette in the middle of the dim sun at the apex of its rise...

Then, all of a sudden, it broke into many pieces in midair, the fragments quickly becoming lost to the winds. Shock coursed through everyone present to watch this turn of events. Lucca gasped sharply. "It... It **shattered**!" she cried out.

There was a bit more silence, and then Lucca fell to her knees. "It can't be!" she protested, her voice wavering. "What _use_ was it to come so far!?" Lucca shouted in a mix of anger and sorrow, as if demanding answers from the universe itself.

Frog slowly walked toward her. "Despair not..." he said, his voice effectively masking any pain. "Fate be not malleable."

Edward scowled. They had come this far... Why was everything going wrong now!? Wasn't this what they were supposed to do? "Joumae?"

_**I have to admit; I'm stumped,**_ the counterpart replied. **_I got as far as this in Alex's memories, but that's all I had time to study. I don't know what we're supposed to do now..._**

"Dammit..." Edward cursed. Magus simply stayed back and shook his head.

Lucca suddenly stood up and looked toward the sky. "Alex!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "_Say something!_ Don't ignore us!!"

A few more moments of silence went by. Then a shadow began to pass over the sun, completely eclipsing it and covering Death Peak in shadow...

* * *

All of a sudden, the party felt whisked off their feet, and they fell onto some kind of invisible surface. Alphonse was the first to recognize their surroundings. "We're in Lavos's pocket dimension!" he cried out. Indeed, they were in the same bright blue space that they had faced Lavos and Elaeus in. 

But something was very much out of place. Every person and being there, except themselves, was grayed out and completely still. Not only that, but they could basically see themselves in the surroundings! Duplicates of Frog and Marle were frozen at the sides, as well as copies of the Elrics in the back, stuck in their weary states. There was Magus laying down near Lavos, where Elaeus – whose sneer was still frozen on his face – had thrown him. Schala was near Lavos as well, also fatigued.

And standing right in front of Lavos, in a stance that was preparing for the incoming strike, was the frozen form of Alexander himself.

Lucca's jaw dropped. "The Chrono Trigger... the Guru's Time Egg...! And there we all are! We're back at that instant!"

Frog looked around, and finally focused on his own kneeling form. "Like stone statues," he added. "'Tis eerie..."

"A time freeze..." Magus muttered, sounding rather impressed. "I never thought it possible."

Edward snapped his fingers. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "It all makes sense now!" Everyone looked at him strangely as he walked toward Alexander's frozen body. "That's why we needed a clone! We've come back to this time to make a _switch_! The clone will take the blast, and the real Alex will be safe with us!"

Lucca took out the clone from the inventory bag, and Alphonse pulled the real Alexander away from his current position. After placing the clone in a position close to how his double had been, Lucca adjusted her glasses. "We've got to hurry!"

The deformed knight seemed to agree. "'Tis an eerie place. Let us withdraw quickly."

"Save the hellos for later!" Magus chided them. "We've got work to do."

Alphonse hefted Alex's limp body over his shoulder. "So... how do we get out of here, anyway?" he had to ask.

As if to answer his question, the scene around them settled into darkness once more...

* * *

Alexander suddenly felt a light come into the void around him, and feeling began to return to his body. He didn't know how long he'd been waiting in the void – actually, the void of death was one place in this world where time held very little meaning. How was he going to keep track, anyway? 

Alex slowly found the strength to open his eyes. It was awfully bright. He quickly shut them again. What was going on? Was he back in Twilight Town, waking up to that fateful first morning? No, that would be ludicrous, because he'd already been through it...

Actually, he was sitting up against wood. A tree against his back? Alex tried opening his eyes again. This time he managed to focus on the snow beneath him. He was sprawled on the snow, leaning against an old tree.

And he was alive.

"Alexander! It's about time!!" Alex heard a voice shout next to him. He winced a little, but he immediately recognized the voice. He looked over to his right and smiled at Lucca, who was glaring at him. Frog, Edward, Alphonse, and even Magus was there too! _Good, so they managed to get him into the party without my help. That's good..._

"How art thou feeling, Alexander?" Frog asked tentatively from his front.

Alex adjusted himself a little, getting into a proper sitting position. He was still faintly smiling. "I'm..." he croaked, his voice raspy from disuse. He cleared his throat, and said, "I'm... feeling better now." He forced out a little laugh. "Heh... So, you guys did it. You managed to bring me back from the dead..."

At this statement, Lucca stood up and walked over to him, then knelt down next to him. Alex looked at her kind of expectantly, wondering what she was going to say...

And she punched him straight across the face, sending him sprawling onto his side. "Y-You _dummy_!" Lucca screamed, her choice of words impaired by her anger. "You wouldn't believe what we had to go through for you!"

In hindsight, Alex didn't mind the punch. The sharp physical pain had boosted his nerves into full working order, bringing him to complete, proper consciousness. But in the moment, all he could do was sit back up, look at Lucca with a surprised look, and sprawl onto the ground again as Edward took the opportunity to deliver the second punch.

"You_ eff_ing **selfish** bastard!" Edward yelled at the top of his lungs as Alex struggled to recover again. Edward had been using the automail arm for that punch. "Why the **hell** did you make us go through all that? Do you have _any_ idea how annoying its been for all of us!?"

Alexander had a number of arguments to make as he rose up for the second time. Like if he'd just let Crono die, he would be taking this kind of retribution all the same... and like if nothing had been done, Lavos would've absorbed them all... But he got to say none of this, because Lucca had suddenly thrown herself onto him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You mess up again..." Lucca mumbled, beginning to cry on his shoulder, "and we _won't_ save you!" Alexander found himself blushing a little at this prospect; he'd actually been expecting another punch.

But he suddenly felt really guilty too. They had a point; he had put them through too much. He really should've known, but in the whole gung-ho hero feeling of the moment he'd really neglected to think about it. As he continued to think, he realized that he'd been really ignorant of a lot of things in all of these adventures. Like when he'd been ignorant of Sora and Kairi's feelings when they'd first reunited in Kingdom Hearts II, instead criticizing it as a "mushy" scene.

And his sister, Erica... Alex had been ignorant about her, too. He'd buried himself in the supposed duty of finding the remaining apprentices so that he didn't have to think about it. He couldn't forgive Erica for what she'd chosen to do, but he couldn't forgive himself either... And on top of that, he'd been ignorant about Lucca as well...

"While you were gone we had a terrible time!" Lucca exclaimed as she continued to hug Alexander. But the boy only caught a few words in the midst of his thoughts. "Marle had to..., and..., so then we... and I had to..." Then, Lucca pulled away from Alex for a moment to glare at him. "Hey! You listening, Alex!" She embraced him again, saying, "You can be so irritating sometimes!"

"Oh! Speaking of irritating..." Edward remarked, cutting into the moment between Lucca and Alex. Edward summoned the Lockshield and held it out to Alexander. "This is yours, I believe."

Alexander reached out and tentatively took the Lockshield. There was a sudden pulse of darkness that flowed between Edward's and Alex's hands as they made contact, but then it was done. Alex took the Lockshield, stared at it for a moment, and promptly dismissed it.

_**You know, I would berate you too, but I think everything's already been said, **_Joumae said within Alex's head.

Edward looked a little startled for some reason. With a fearful expression, he hesitantly asked, "Uh... Joumae did transfer back to you, right Alex?"

Alexander gave Edward a confused look in return. "Yeah, he did. Why do you ask?" Joumae chuckled a little, beginning to realize what was going on.

Edward fumed internally. He'd been patient. He'd been incredibly patient with Joumae. The guy really was an annoying sarcastic bastard, but he'd been helpful at the least. And Edward had been harboring the hope that he would be rid of Joumae once Alex had been revived. That's why he hadn't said anything much about the whole thing. But now that his hopes had been utterly smashed to pieces, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

He let out his frustration, and it would have surprised **no one** if it had been heard on the Black Omen.

**"GOD DAMMIT!"**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	27. That Rainbow Sparkle

Chapter 26  
That Rainbow Sparkle

Alexander's return to the rest of the party was, for the most part, a pretty quick one. They went back down Death Peak and toward the Epoch, and Alex admired the new wings that were on it. All seven of them piled into the machine, and it became a rather tight fit. After Lucca gave him the basics of the controls, the Interference flipped the time gauge to the End of Time, and they were off.

The Epoch came to a quick stop right next to the main platform, and all six fighters disembarked. The ones who'd been waiting there – Robo, Marle, Crono, and Ayla – all brightened up and gave Alex friendly welcomes, as well as a few threatening remarks made shortly afterward. All in all, it was exactly what he'd been hoping for. **_Yeah, well don't revel in it,_**Joumae advised the boy. **_At this point, they really won't save you if you decide to kill yourself again._**

Edward growled from a distance behind Alex. After all the work he'd been putting into the recovery, he was still able to hear Joumae even though the counterpart had transferred back to his original host. It pissed him off to no end. Apparently, after Joumae had been inside Edward's heart for so long, there was some kind of "gap" where the old personality had been. That "gap" somehow allowed Edward to hear other counterparts talking telepathically. That was the condensed version, and Joumae hadn't felt like going into the physics of it all. _**It was the same case with Riku, if you'll remember, **_he'd added then.

Alexander ignored Edward's current frustration and decided to honestly heed Joumae's words. Being dead wasn't fun; that cold, empty, lonely void was something he didn't want to experience again. Being revived through a time paradox was cool to claim, but not quite so cool to actually be a part of. At least he knew what would come after death...

Or was the void only a place for people in paradoxical limbo?

The old man, Gaspar, awoke with a sudden start. With one glance toward Alexander, he immediately knew what the result of their adventure was. And his expression showed that he was pleased. "So! Looks like you were successful!"

Lucca started to say something, but Gasper cut her off. "No, don't thank me. I didn't do a thing. I just gave you a place to begin..." With a laugh, he quickly said, "If you really want to thank me, make me a member of your team!"

Everyone shared a laugh at that point, providing some levity that was very much needed after Alex had sacrificed himself. Even Magus held back a smirk for a moment. When the mirth dissipated, Gaspar settled his weight onto his cane and smiled at them.

Marle looked from party member to party member as an awkward silence suddenly settled in. She frowned at the lack of input, and was quick to say, "So what do we do now? Alex is back, but we're still likely to be taken out by Lavos and Elaeus when we confront them. We haven't gained all that much experience since he... left."

Alex nodded. "But there's still some stuff we can do."

Gaspar nodded toward Alex affirmatively. "You wish to fight Elaeus, correct? Many paths lay open to you." He nodded toward the bucket in the corner, which still had a small light shining from it. "You may use that bucket. There is a Gate in there that will take you directly to 1999 AD. Or you can use the Wings of Time to fly to 'The Day of Lavos'... Or there's the Black Omen, which floats in the sky above this world. Lavos and Elaeus are somehow connected with it. ...It's up to you to decide when and where to fight Lavos."

Alexander took a deep breath and began to consider the options. The fastest way would be to go directly to 'The Day of Lavos,' he figured. Going through the Black Omen was more trouble than it was worth. And there was a sure way to bypass some of the enemy's defenses by going directly there...

"By now you must realize," Gaspar continued after a few moments of contemplative silence, "you are the only ones who stand a chance against them... However," he added quickly, "you will not be alone. I have had vague glimpses of events, people and places that will empower you..."

"In the Middle Ages," Gaspar stated, "a woman's sheer determination brings a forest back to life..."

Looking toward Magus, he said, "A fugitive in the Middle Ages, Ozzie, maintains an evil hideout..." Magus simply grunted in annoyance.

With a glance toward Robo, Gaspar remarked, "There's a task to be done in the Future, where machinery originated." Robo's eyes flickered for a moment, and the robot then averted his gaze. Looking back toward the general group, he added, "And there's a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation, from the distant past to the far future..."

Gaspar cleared his throat and then looked at Frog. "There's the ghost of a lofty knight, slain by Magus in the Middle Ages, who haunts the present..." Frog sharply inhaled at the thought, and Magus smirked.

"And there's an object in the Middle Ages that sparkles like a rainbow," Gaspar finally said, his tone indicating that his list was finished. "One of you is close to someone who needs help. Find this person... fast. Just as you touch the lives of every life form you meet, so, too, will their energy strengthen you. Fail to live up to your potential, and you will never win..."

Alexander chuckled at the last two statements. Touching the lives of others and being strengthened in return... That seemed to be how this whole series of Interferences seemed to work out. He'd noticed it in his first adventure, where there seemed to be more changes in himself than in the actual series of events in the games.

Joumae groaned in the pause between Gaspar's statements. **_Aw, crap. Now we _have_ to do the sidequests, don't we? If we don't 'live up to our potential'... That's basically saying that we _need_ to go backtracking!_**

Gaspar lowered his gaze. "I am sorry that I must simply witness the coming spectacle from my vantage point here..." With that, he fell silent at last.

Every fighter's gaze turned to Alexander. The Interference didn't falter under the attention this time; by now, he was somewhat used to it. He didn't want to get a big head about it, but he was fairly important to these proceedings at this point. He thought about it for a moment, and said, "Crono, Ayla, and Marle should come with us for now. We're going to investigate that last one, about that rainbow thing."

Lucca sighed gratefully as she was allowed to sit back down, and Crono and Marle grinned as they grabbed their weapons and stood beside the rest of the party. Ayla bounded toward them and smiled warmly as she got ready to be back in the traveling group. Frog and Magus took places on opposite sides of the platform. There was obviously some malcontent between them, but it was at least better than before.

Alexander took a deep breath, taking in the moment as he finally became the leader of the adventuring party once again. He was almost afraid that his skills had become _stale_ during his time in limbo.

* * *

First thing being first, they had to go to the Middle Ages. With the literal Wings of Time allowing them to bypass any continental boundaries, they were able to go anywhere they wanted in the world at any time period. The Epoch warped them to 600 AD, appearing near the Black Omen that was floating over the old site of Magus's lair.

From there they flew south to Porre, and then east over the ocean. After a little while, they found themselves hovering over a small island town called Choras. There weren't too many buildings in the area. A few residences, a café, the inn, and a marketplace. To the northeast of the place was a fairly large fortress, but Alex knew that the old place wasn't their concern at the moment.

The party walked into the small café. It was a relatively small place; there was only one table in the square room, and the rest was the bar in the corner. And sitting at the nearest end, holding his drink thoughtfully, was Toma Levine.

Edward couldn't help but smirk. It had been a long while, but he still remembered the short encounter from before. "Yo, Toma!" he called over to him.

Toma looked over and grinned back when he recognized the short alchemist. "Ah, if it isn't the feisty young man from Dorino Inn!" the adventurer replied. His mood apparently lifted, he said, "Hey, listen, I've finally got a lead on the Rainbow Shell. But there's something odd going on..."

The adventurer paused for a moment. Then, he seemed to get an idea. Toma held out his drink to Edward, saying, "Oh, can you hold onto this for me?"

Edward took Toma's drink tentatively. There seemed to be some kind of soda fizzing within it.

"If I don't return," Toma advised, "come to my grave and pour this on my headstone." At this, the whole party was surprised. Seeing their reactions, Toma grinned in response. "Gee, isn't this morbid?" With that, he stood up from his seat, left some money on the counter, and promptly left the establishment.

As they left the place, Marle was in a bit of awe. "Wow... Kinda hard to believe that he was the _real_ Toma Levine..."

"You know?" Ayla asked, and the whole party came to a stop. "How this Toma guy important?"

Marle chuckled a little. "He's a real legend around our time, isn't he Crono?" she asked the spiky-haired protagonist, who nodded rather enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Marle continued, "I read a few books about the guy. He was a really famous adventurer in this time, and his journeys were almost on par with the stuff we're going through right now. No save-the-world crises or anything like that, but pretty big stuff still. In fact..."

She paused for a moment, looking toward the northwest cape, where a large forest was growing. "...I recall reading that they placed his grave on that hill after they cleared out the forest..."

* * *

One hop through time later with the Epoch, they found themselves standing in present-day Choras. Just as Marle predicted, the west cape was almost completely clear. They walked right up to the end of the cape overlooking the sea, and it was only at that end that they found anything at all. That 'anything' was a grave.

_The Great Adventurer  
Toma Levine rests here..._

_3/6/634_

Edward felt a little wistful as he held out Toma's preserved drink over the headstone. After a moment more of this nostalgia, he tipped the drink over and poured the contents, which splashed onto the stone and stained it.

Everyone stood back as the entire cape slowly filled up with a bright light. The light faded as slowly as it had come, and the bright figure of Toma was standing in front of the tomb. The light soon became normal again, and Toma's ghost smirked at them. _"Shorty, long time no see."_

"**Gaah!!**" Edward exclaimed, but knew that his flared temper would do no good. Toma had been dead for almost four hundred years at this point; he could do him no harm.

Toma laughed a little. _"Feisty as ever. Anyway... I've located the Rainbow Shell."_ The ghost walked over to the left of his grave and looked toward the northwest. _"To the northwest of this cape,"_ he explained, _"is a large island called the Giant's Claw. You can find the Shell there."_

The party looked in the direction Toma was looking in, but saw nothing. The cave he was referring to was probably only found in the Middle Ages.

_"But beware!"_ Toma warned them. _"There are many beasts about!"_

Marle nodded slowly. "Thank you for your consideration... But we will probably be able to manage it ourselves."

Toma shrugged. _"Time to shove off."_ With nothing more to be said, he slowly floated up into the air... and instantly disappeared.

Edward, in a fit of anger, ran up to the grave and gave it a swift kick with his automail leg. "**Who're you callin' so short ants hafta look down!?**"

Toma's ghostly laugh echoed across the cape. _"You guys are a riot a minute! See ya!"_

* * *

A quick flight in the Epoch and they found themselves back in the Middle Ages' Choras. Following Toma's instructions, they traveled northeast and found a large cave sitting on an even smaller island. They landed the Epoch in a clearing between some large clumps of trees, and entered the cave's entrance.

The party found themselves in a large cavern, but with a small rock path ahead of them that turned sharply to the right. The rest of the room they were in was simply pitch blackness. They walked along the path and soon found a crumpled piece of paper on the ground.

Edward picked the note up and scowled. "It's Toma's," he muttered. "_'Those holes! What if I jump into them on purpose? Yes! I'll start back at the beginning, and...'_" The alchemist dropped the note and shook his head. "Holes? I guess we'll find out soon enough."

They walked through a small doorway they found just to the south of the note... and entered a rather familiar place. There were large dinosaur bones acting as torches near a large throne. The walls and tiling, of semi-prehistoric make, were also of bone and stone.

Ayla was surprised more than any of them. "**What!! **Why Reptites' castle here?" she demanded, mixed reactions building up inside her and conflicting.

Alphonse looked around in a circle almost analytically, and came to a conclusion. "This place must have been... pushed underground when Lavos fell to this world."

Crono glanced at Alexander, who nodded back. If this was indeed the Reptites' old lair buried for millennia, then it was likely that Lightning magic would be almost required.

They moved beyond the hall and found a split in the path. One going to the right, and a set of stairs in front of them leading down and to the left. Alex's instincts told him to go down the stairs. They had just almost reached the far side of the room when they heard a strange shriek behind them. Everyone looked to see three large blue flying Reptites bearing down on them. Lizardactyls, they were called.

Alexander, eager to be back in the action after so long, charged up his magic. Gold sparks collected around him from the air as he shouted, "_Lightning 2_!" Waves of electrical energy spread out and revolved around him, filling up the room. They passed over the Lizardactyls... but the monsters didn't seem to feel a thing.

_**You idiot!**_ Joumae screamed into Alex's head. **_Those types _absorb_ Lightning damage!!_**

Alex relayed the information after recovering, and Edward scowled. "Damn it, Darwin!" the alchemist cursed, clapping his hands and placing them on the ground. The blue sparks from the alchemic reaction traveled through the stone walls and up toward the ceiling, grabbing the Reptites' attention. From the rock ceiling, stone pillars came down toward the monsters. A couple of them got crushed by the large pillars, but the third managed to get out of the way.

Marle, however, had already prepared her Ice spell. She launched the magic, which Ayla grabbed. When the large ice crystals had formed in the cavewoman's hand, she started throwing them all around her, eventually hitting the Lizardactyl with great force and defeating it.

They moved on toward the far right of the room and into the next room. This room definitely looked familiar; it was a small place with a dinosaur skull in the back, and three switches in the marble floor beneath them. Alex thought for a moment to remember the correct method, and stepped onto the switch on the left. The floor opened up on either side of the marble strip leading to the skull.

Strangely enough, a cat fell down from somewhere up above and into the two pits below. Alphonse, being the incurable cat lover that he was, cried out in alarm and quite suddenly jumped into the large pit after the feline. "Al!" Edward cried out in alarm, his shout soon followed by a metal _clunk_.

Everyone tentatively looked down into the pit, only to find Alphonse safely standing in a similar room below them, waving up toward them. "It's not that far down, actually!" the younger Elric shouted back up to them. "Can't find the cat, though..."

Alexander sighed, and slowly let himself over the edge. He fell down to the floor below with relative ease, and everyone else followed suit with no complications. This particular skull room had two switches and no potential pit areas, but Alex walked right past the switches and moved on to the cave room outside it.

The large cave room they were in had several floors, but Alex followed the narrow path on the very nether regions of the room, eventually making it to the southern area. As the path finished turning a full 180 degrees, two large winged ape creatures jumped out of the abyss below and landed on both sides of the party. Fossil Apes.

"I'm Driving now!" Alex warned everyone. "_Power_!" Light shot forth from his body, and Alphonse faded into the light. When the light faded, Alex was skating across the floor, twirling a Lockshield behind his back as he looked toward the enemies calmly. It was Wisdom Form once again.

One of the Fossil Apes closed in to attack, but Alexander quickly used Reflega as the large ape made a swipe for him. The attack glanced off the light barrier that appeared, and a subsequent explosion of light sent the potential damage straight back at the monster. Alex fired a few blasts of energy from his Lockshield, and Marle helped with that by shooting a crossbow bolt straight into the beast's chest. The Fossil Ape faded away into red light.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Edward clapped his hands once more to create a large hammer from the ground. Ayla ran toward him and gave him a tremendous boost into the air, above the other Fossil Ape. The large ape prepared to defend itself, but Crono closed in on its exposed flank and gave it two swift slashes with his katana. By then, Edward had gained momentum and was able to send the hammer head crashing into the Fossil Ape's skull. The monster staggered back for a moment, and then fell back down into the great abyss below.

They moved onward, trying as quickly as they could to reach the next doorway ahead, but yet another Fossil Ape emerged from the doorway as they neared it. Two shorter, leaner dinosaur creatures called Leapers emerged from the dark abyss to the side and stood beside the Fossil Ape. Alexander smirked as he used a Quick Run to get near them and casted a couple shots of Thundaga. Bolts of lightning zapped the Fossil Ape and created shockwaves that damaged the Leapers. The Fossil Ape wasn't harmed so much by the magic, but the Leapers were still remarkably sensitive to the element, and faded away almost instantly.

Edward quickly transmuted his hammer into an ax and rushed toward the Fossil Ape. The gigantic primate tried to retaliate, but a quick cast of Magnega from Alex prevented any movement from the enemy. The ax strike cleaved through the Fossil Ape cleanly, forcing it to fade away in red light like its comrades.

They passed through the the doorway to the right, and entered another large room with separate paths and several levels. Most of the other paths besides the correct one would just lead to treasure or dead ends, both being things that Alex wasn't very keen on right now. He wanted to get through this as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it had been too long since he'd played Chrono Trigger, really...

_**I could always look in your subconsciousness, you know, **_Joumae suggested nonchalantly.

For the first time since the return, this remark from Joumae generated surprise rather than rage from the nearby alchemist. Edward raised an eyebrow at Alexander. "You can do that, Joumae?" he asked aloud, and the others stopped as they conversed with Joumae.

_**Yeah. I'm literally connected to Alex's mind in here. I'm able to see memories, imagined scenarios that he makes up, and even his subconscious memories. It's fascinating, but I don't try to do it too often. It's still a teenager's mind.**_

Alex rolled his eyes, but figured that Joumae had nothing stopping him. And if it helped them through this any faster, than so be it. Joumae noticed these thoughts and gleefully went to work, his presence disappearing from Alex's senses until he came back again with information.

They moved along the top floor of the room to the right until they found two sets of rope ladders, one leading up to another place above them and the other going down to the next floor of the room. Joumae ordered them to go down the latter ladder, and they continued along that path. After climbing a second ladder to the bottom, the party moved to the right and found another doorway, leading into a long chamber reminiscent of the main hall of the Tyrano Lair.

Two Leapers were waiting for them as they entered the room, and a large, heavy, green-and-gold dinosaur called a Gigasaur tumbled down from someplace above them. Alex grinned at the knowledge that all of these were susceptible to Lightning damage, and he was still in Wisdom Form. Strange, he was lasting longer than last time...

"_Thundaga_!" Alex shouted, raising the Heartless Seal into the air. As before, a bolt of lightning zapped the Gigasaur and also damaged the Leapers nearby. The Leapers were further away from the initial impact, however, so they weren't completely defeated. One of the Leapers charged forward in retaliation toward Ayla. The cavewoman snarled at the Reptite creature and leaped up into the air to dodge it. From midair, she grabbed the Leaper's forefront horn and used it to swing herself down, slamming her feet into the Leaper's body and crushing it.

Edward clapped his hands and transmuted a row of Stonespikes under the second Leaper, impaling the monster and sending it into the air. At the apex of its rise, Marle shot a crossbow bolt into the Leaper, delivering the final blow. Meanwhile, Crono cast a simple Lightning spell, sending a large lightning bolt crashing into the Gigasaur, weakening it further. Alex heard Joumae whistle in his mind; while Thundaga was a large _zap_, the Lightning spells were a relatively gigantic _crash!_ in comparison. Chrono Trigger magic trumped Kingdom Hearts II magic any day.

Alex shook his head to relieve himself of these thoughts, and fired a few blasts of energy from the Lockshield at the Gigasaur. It took quite a few shots, but the Reptite finally went down in red light. At last, Alexander was forced to revert from his Drive Form, and Alphonse appeared right beside him as the deep blue color faded from his garments.

Alphonse cast Heal on everyone for good measure, and they continued on toward the end of the hall, which had two large dinosaur skulls acting as doorways out of the hall. The one on the left was open, but the right skull was sealed shut.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Let me guess... The left one is the long way around to get to the path that the right skull opens into?"

_**Uh... Hmm, pretty much.**_

"Figured," Edward muttered, and stepped toward the right skull. He clapped his hands and placed them on the skull. In a bright flash of blue sparks, the skull was transmuted to become wide open for all of them to walk through.

Alexander was a little surprised. "Huh... Don't think I would've thought of that, actually."

Alphonse shrugged. "We've learned a little about being Interferences, Alex," he said with a small laugh in his voice. "In these big game worlds where there's a lot of backtracking and challenges, a little alchemy seems to go a long way."

Alex nodded as he stepped into the now-open skull. "I'll keep that in mind."

They moved through the skull and down a staircase to the right, leading down into the basement of the old Tyrano Lair. It was definitely recognizable, as Ayla was quick to point out. She gasped as she looked at the open cell door as they walked through the hallway. "Prison!" she shouted. "We save Laruba people here!"

Crono nodded. Right next to the open bars made out of dinosaur bones was a small switch that he'd pressed to release Azala's prisoners.

They walked on, and the path turned left before going down yet another staircase. This was the lowest level, where another prison was located. Alex pressed the button to open up the cell, and they all saw a large hole in the back wall leading into a large section of the cave.

With some hesitation, Alex led the party through. He remembered this series of events quite consciously; there was going to be a rather big, fierce boss battle in this large area. They walked a little bit farther, and everyone suddenly came to a stop. A good distance away, a large armored dog-like creature was laying on the ground ahead of them. It was huge, and almost impossible to forget.

"Black Tyrano!" Ayla hissed, getting into a fighting stance. It was indeed the very same large dog that Azala had been raising to wipe out the human race in the Prehistoric era. But as everyone else went into fighting stances, Alexander actually remained calm and still, looking more thoughtful than wary.

To the others' surprise, Alex sauntered over to where the Black Tyrano lay, and moved over to its head. The rest of the party moved along too, wondering what the trouble was.

Marle scrunched up her face and waved the air in front of her nose. "Ugh..." she muttered, "smells like this thing's been rotting for years and years..."

Alphonse walked over to the huge monster's body and rubbed a hand along the side of it. The Black Tyrano didn't make a move or a sound, and a red grainy substance rubbed off onto the armored glove. "More like _rusting_ for years, actually..."

Edward chuckled. "That would make it more of a 'Rust Tyrano', wouldn't it? It seems to have that kind of color to it now..."

Meanwhile, Alexander stepped over to the Rust Tyrano's head, moving over to behind it. He cleared away some of the loose rust that had accumulated on top of the head, and cringed at what that uncovered. A large gash running straight down the middle of the Tyrano's cranium, like a stab wound. A quick run to the other side of the large head confirmed the existence of an exit wound right in the monster's lower jaw.

Alex shuddered and walked back to the group. "Well... I guess this is kind of a lucky break for us. Elaeus had killed this thing long ago for us."

It took a few moments for the rest of the party to get this, but it suddenly dawned on them, one by one. "Oh, right!" Marle exclaimed suddenly as her eyes widened in her realization. 

_The Black Tyrano roared angrily, but this only seemed to distract Elaeus slightly. "Ah, I'll have to get rid of your little pet, too." He suddenly summoned a large, black broadsword with the Heartless emblem imprinted on the blade near the hilt, and rammed it into the Black Tyrano's skull. The dinosaur let out a piercing cry of pain as it was skewered easily, but Elaeus didn't seem to take notice. Elaeus pulled his sword out of the dinosaur's head, and the monster slumped down in its collar. The Heartless apprentice then slashed through the rope and jumped off the Black Tyrano, letting it fall down and slide over the edge of the bridge, where it fell into the vast canyon below. _

"Wow, that **is** a bit of a lucky break..." Edward admitted.

Ayla, by now, had moved past the beast to see what was beyond. She gasped, and waved the rest of the party over. "Look here! Pretty! Big!"

Everyone quickly ran over to Ayla, who was standing on a large rock cliff jutting out from the Tyrano's room of the large cave. Sitting under a pillar of light coming from the hole in the cave's ceiling, shining with an undeniably rainbow-colored sparkle, was a gigantic crystal shell.

Ayla smirked. "This Rainbow Shell?" she asked. "Can eat?"

The others just gave her a negative shake of the head, and all six of them gathered around to lift the large shell. Alex got his hands under it and lifted it up with the rest of them, and found himself groaning under the weight of it. This thing had to weigh a few hundred pounds, at the _least_!

Finally, they let the Rainbow Shell go, which created rather significant tremors as it fell onto the ground. Marle gasped for a little bit of breath. "It's _heavy_! We won't be able to carry it."

The party was silent for a moment as they contemplated this new dilemma, but Alphonse was rather quick to find a solution. "Better get some help at the castle!"

* * *

After making their way back out of the Giant's Claw, they flew the Epoch over to Guardia Castle. All six fighters entered the royal court again, where the King Guardia himself and Queen Leene were seated on their thrones, the Chancellor was standing nearby, and the Knight Captain and his brother, the cook, came in shortly after they arrived.

King Guardia smiled warmly at them as they walked in. "Hello! You're always welcome here. What can I do for you?"

Marle stepped forward, obviously not prepared on how she was going to propose this request of theirs. "Well..." She did her best, however, to explain the situation of the Rainbow Shell and the manpower required to extract it. And where it should be kept.

The King nodded. "I get it. You want me to keep that huge shell safe here until the next millennium, right?"

Queen Leene seemed more than willing to meet their request. "I ask for the sake of Crono. Please carry out their request." Crono blushed a little at this, and Marle gave him a playful smack upside the head.

"Done!" King Guardia declared. "I shall obtain the shell and store it in the castle, as a national treasure. Knight Captain!" he shouted, looking at the Knight standing behind the party.

"Yes, Majesty!" the Captain replied, coming to full attention.

"Go and obtain the Rainbow Shell," the King ordered, "and bring it back in one piece!"

Joumae had a little laugh at this. _**Heh. Why not break it into pieces and take it back here that way? It would sure make lifting that load one heck of a lot easier.**_

The gold-armored knight saluted, said, "At once, Sire!" and quickly went out of the room.

Marle cheered. "Thank you, your Majesty! And Queen Leene too, of course!"

The cook laughed behind them. "Nonsense! **You** saved the day. I just cooked! I'm whipping up a victory meal. Something real fancy!" Grinning, the cook walked out of the room, muttering about recipes and such things Alexander didn't really understand.

* * *

_Much later, down at the heart of the Giant's Claw..._

"So, is that the Rainbow Shell?" one of the soldiers asked tentatively as they approached the large, shining shell.

The Knight Captain nodded as they gathered around it. He and seven of their strongest soldiers had come along for the job, and to look at the thing he finally understood why Crono and his party had required help. It was large, and the material it seemed to be made of was probably of a high density. This was going to be difficult.

"Get ready..." the Captain ordered, and everyone got their hands under the shell the best they could, ready to lift it up at his signal. "Okay, everyone! **Lift!!!**"

Groans and moans echoed throughout the chamber as all eight of them hefted up the shell. The Captain immediately became worried; this thing was even heavier than he had estimated. "Is everyone alright?" he asked, feeling that he had to make sure.

They started taking a few steps toward the exit. "It's heavy..." one of them muttered. "But we'll manage!"

* * *

_But right now, back with our heroes..._

Marle sighed deeply as the party walked out of Guardia Castle, toward the Epoch that was parked near the exit of the forest ahead of them. She seemed a little melancholy, Alex had to admit.

Crono placed a hand on Marle's shoulder, and the young woman sighed again. "It's my father..." she explained. "Being in the past's castle... It made me wonder how Daddy's doing right now, in our time. It seems like so long since we all ran away from that place..."

Alexander smirked. "Well, right of you that you should be thinking that, Marle. That happens to be where we're going next. This sidequest isn't over just quite yet."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	28. Trial, Trial Again

Chapter 27  
Trial, Trial Again

Before they left for the present era, Alexander had made a decision. Since it was still likely that all of them remained convicted and wanted from the trial earlier in the adventure, it would be better to switch Ayla out and bring Lucca in. That way, if any good deeds were done during their revisit (and he knew that they would have to be done), then all of them would be redeemed without any remaining suspicion of any missing party members.

Edward, however, didn't buy a word of it. "Spare me the bullcrap, Alex," he responded when the Interference made the suggestion, rolling his eyes and smirking. "You just want to be around Lucca some more, don't you?"

Alexander was caught a little off guard at this; Edward had struck a nerve with the accusation. "D-Don't be ridiculous," he stuttered as he used the Lockshield to create a portal to the End of Time. Ayla went through, and the cavewoman motioned for the mechanic girl to exit.

"Miss me already?" Lucca joked as she stepped onto the castle grounds. Edward sighed and shook his head as they gave the girl a moment to collect the memories of the recent adventure. Lucca's eyes shot open quickly as she reached the end, though. "We're going _back_ to the castle of _our_ time!?" she asked incredulously.

Marle nodded, having mixed feelings as well. "I've been away from Father for too long, I think. And Alex says this particular sidequest ends there anyway."

Alphonse stepped toward the Epoch. "Well, maybe your father has had some time to think about things, and he'll understand some more when we come back."

Alexander and Edward heard a dark chuckle in the empty airspace that followed.**_If only it were that easy._**

* * *

Guardia Castle, 1000 AD was only a short time warp away in the Epoch. The six fighters left the Epoch at the foot of the main staircase of the grounds, and climbed up the stairs to the main doorway. Marle led the way, pushing the doors open with an unexpected vigor. 

Their presence was immediately noticed. "Princess Nadia!" a guard shouted.

The great doors to the throne room opened up with a bang, and the Chancellor came rushing out to meet Marle. "I've been worried, Princess!" the Chancellor exclaimed. With a sigh, he said, "I understand your pain. But the king really only cares about his realm... Yes, even when your mother, Queen Aliza, passed away, he worked all day!"

Marle scowled. This kind of talk didn't help her opinion of her father. "No one could do that! That's inhuman!"

The Chancellor pretended to shrug it off, turning away. "Oh, child, it's ancient history now..." At this, Alexander suppressed a chuckle. Joumae made no such effort.

Marle, however, was completely taken in by this tale. She ran around the Chancellor to face him again. "Tell me more!" she demanded angrily.

Crono, meanwhile, was looking around nervously. The guards were eying the rest of the party with some suspicion. Both the guards and the party had the same thing on their minds: Would the order come to arrest them again?

The Chancellor frowned. "This may be difficult... Well, Queen Aliza's condition suddenly changed for the worst. She desperately wanted to see the king one last time, but he couldn't find the time to drop by... Said he had some work to do..." With a sigh, he continued, "But knowing nothing about death, you waited faithfully by your mother's side... Aliza passed away in sorrow... It's as if the king indirectly killed her... It's such a shame..."

"Is he serious?" Alphonse whispered to Alexander as they watched the Chancellor drag on, though it was hard to whisper with his voice echoing from the armor.

Alex glanced up at him out of the corner of his eye. "What do you think?" was all he said. He decided that it was the best way to express it indirectly.

Alphonse straightened up and stared at the Chancellor and Marle. The young princess certainly seemed to be on the verge of tears, hearing this news from the Chancellor. But the Chancellor... well, it seemed that his tale had been tailor-made to paint this kind of picture...

"**What!!**" Marle finally shouted out loud, causing the guards to flinch a little. "Father **killed**...? ...**my mother**...?!!"

"But what do I know!" the Chancellor was quick to respond. "There are reasons for everything, right dear?" He walked beside the angry princess and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now... so glad to see you back again. Please go and visit the king."

With that, the Chancellor left, and everyone else began to relax a little. No order had been given to capture the members of the party, so apparently they were allowed to wander freely with the princess.

Speaking of which, Marle started walking back to the party, obviously trying to hold back tears. "Killed...?" she muttered under her breath inaudibly.

Lucca looked at her worriedly. "Marle... I'm not so sure about this... Something's fishy."

Marle's sad face turned into a scowl. "You're telling _me_? Well, I know if there's one person that can answer this, it's Father. And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if it **is** true. It sounds just like something that Father would do!!"

She turned back around sharply and stormed up the steps, and the rest of the group reluctantly followed her up. However, Marle didn't make it too far before she found herself facing two guards blocking the door to the royal court. "The King ordered that the court be locked until the trial's over."

A collective physical expression of "Huh?" emanated from the group. "Trial?" Edward echoed in surprise. "What trial? Whose trial?"

A guard on the lower level chuckled. "Whose, you ask? King Guardia's, of course!"

Marle gasped. The guard on the other side of the staircase looked over at his companion and nodded. "They say the King sold off the royal treasures."

"My father!?" Marle shouted, shocked by all of this news that was coming to her. In a moment, though, she finally came to grips with herself and assessed the information properly. "Then... we'd better get to the courtroom!"

The party ran to the east wing of the castle and climbed the long upward set of stairs. Just before the stairs, however, they noticed an entire new stairway to the side leading downward. But, ignoring that, they climbed to the top of the staircase and entered the adjacent hallway. At the other end they found the large double doors to the courtroom, which a couple of guards were barricading.

"No entry allowed!" one of them shouted as they approached.

Marle's scowl went another notch deeper. She took a deep breath of air, braced herself, and screamed, "**Let me through!!**" at the top of her lungs.

The guards, clearly unprepared in dealing with such an outburst from the princess, flinched and flustered for a moment, until finally standing aside. Marle thrust the doors open and ran through without any hesitation.

* * *

Indeed, court had been long since in session. The defendant was the King himself, and the prosecution was none other than the Chancellor. There was no lawyer acting on the King's behalf, either. 

The Chancellor grinned and declared, "Had any of you heard of this 'Rainbow Shell?' I, too, had no idea until I found this..." That being said, he procured a piece of parchment from one of his large pockets. "It's an ancestral will. It says, 'Unveil the Rainbow Shell to the people at the Millennial Fair.'"

The King was incredulous. "What are you talking about!?" he demanded. "We have no family heirlooms here!"

"So this is a forgery?" the Chancellor countered, raising an eyebrow as he put the parchment away. "Why does the defendant deny the people a glimpse of the 'Rainbow Shell?'" With a sudden, commanding tone, he shouted, "Because he no longer **has** it! He sold the heirloom for cash! Witness, please!"

At that precise moment, Marle ran into the courtroom and stood next to her father. The Chancellor was very much surprised by this. "Wh-What is it, Nadia? We are conducting a trial here."

"Father!" Marle cried out, ignoring the Chancellor.

The King was immensely surprised and somewhat relieved to see his daughter again. "Nadia! The Chancellor is trying to frame me!" he said in a pleading tone.

"He hurls insults!" the Chancellor growled. "Confirm your innocence with proof!"

Marle paused for a moment. "Proof?"

"Yes," the Chancellor said with a scowl, as if he didn't really want to say what he was going to say. "If he hasn't sold the heirloom, it should still be in the castle. Show me the 'Rainbow Shell,' and I'll accept his innocence... heh, heh..." He added that small chuckle as he walked back to the plaintiff's place beside the judge.

Dumbfounded, King Guardia shouted, "Chancellor! What kind of trickery is this?!"

There was a moment of silence in the court, but then the Chancellor turned around quickly and ordered, "Remove them!" Acting on that order, a guard came through the doors, grabbed Marle, and quickly pushed her toward the entrance.

Marle came back out to where the party was, and the guards stepped back in to block her path. "No entry allowed!" the other guard declared, more assertive this time.

"**Let me through!!**" Marle screamed again, trying the same tactic as last time.

But the guards held firm, even though they did flinch. "...Princess, not even you may enter."

The party was quiet for a moment. Then Alphonse stepped toward Marle, his armored feet clanking on the ground. "If we find the Rainbow Shell," he offered, "we can prove the King's innocence!"

"What **are** you saying!?" Marle queried. "It's a lie! There **is** no heirloom!"

Lucca jumped into the argument. "We changed history back in 600 AD, so the Rainbow Shell should still be in the castle!"

It took a moment for it to dawn, but dawn on Marle it did. "Aha! The Rainbow Shell we gave to my ancestor 400 years ago is still here." After a moment's contemplation, she added, "It's probably in the basement!"

* * *

The party went down the new set of stairs leading to the basement, and came to a hallway that made a small U-turn. Next to the bottom landing, there was a guard lying down on the floor. "Augh... A rat bit me!" he groaned. He seemed to be in a bit of pain. 

All six fighters went around the turn... and came across a sight that most of them weren't expecting to see. They were now facing a long, wide hallway, but there was an obstruction in their immediate presence. It was two large, purple snakes of a type they'd seen back in 600 AD. They were called Gnashers.

"Mystics!" Lucca exclaimed.

One of the Gnashers grinned. "The boss has been itching to avenge the grudge that's been in the family for 13 generations!" it said, its voice heavily accented by its natural hissing. "Gee hee!"

"He's gonna frame the king!" the other one said. "Ga haw!"

"Great," Edward muttered, clapping his hands. "Our first opponents are Dumb and Dumber." He placed a hand on his automail arm, and blue sparks zapped through the air as he creating his armblade from the metal.

The Gnashers recoiled a little as the rest of the party took fighting stances, but they were quick to return the favor. The two large snakes lashed out toward the party, but Alex quickly stepped in. "_Power_!" he yelled, and bright light shot out from his garments that struck the Gnashers. When the light was gone, Alex's clothes had become bright red, he wielded the Heartless Seal and the Crimson Catalyst, and Crono had disappeared.

Before the Gnashers could react, Alex charged in and spun around, slashing both creatures up with the blades of the Lockshields. It didn't even require all that much effort anyway; a couple of hits and both creatures went down. They seemed to be rather low-level creatures, which was very disproportionate to the growth the party had made.

Marle placed her hands on her hips. "So there **is** a plot! Let's hurry!"

Alexander nodded, and started dashing forward at a high speed. It seemed that the Valor Form had a natural Haste effect on it. "I'll clear the way!" he shouted as he ran ahead. He didn't want to waste the time he had in his Drive Form, after all...

* * *

"I confess," the merchant stated before the court, the Chancellor, and the King. "I bought it from the King. He said he needed the cash." 

The King's jaw dropped. "Liar!! I've never even _seen_ you before!"

"Order in the court!" the judge declared, banging his gavel on his desk several times.

The merchant walked back to the Chancellor, grinning. "Heh heh... Was I convincing?" he whispered to the Chancellor, unheard by everyone else.

The Chancellor grinned back. "Perfect!" The merchant then quickly left the courtroom, and the trial continued onward.

* * *

Alexander ran through a doorway, entering a room with a bunch of supplies taking up all the space on the left. A Gnasher popped out from the supplies, and a Naga-ette appeared from the doorway ahead. Alex went for the Naga-ette first, slashing it a few times. 

Then, Alex placed one Lockshield on the ground, flipped over, and kicked the Naga-ette in an uppercut. The Naga-ette began to disappear into red light, while the Gnasher lashed out toward Alexander. Still using his momentum, Alexander spun around using the Heartless Seal as his central point, bringing the Crimson Catalyst around to catch the Gnasher right in the mouth.

The snake was almost split in two by the force, and it faded into red light. Alex got back onto his feet and kept running, entering the next hallway. A Naga-ette came rushing toward him at a great speed, almost matching Alexander's. The two passed each other, and Alex made a couple of quick slashes as he went by. The weakened Naga-ette staggered a bit, and was given the finishing blow by a shot from Lucca's gun as the rest of the party tried to keep up.

Alexander kept on dashing forward, entering the next hallway. A Gnasher from out of nowhere crossed his path as he ran, almost tripping him, and two large flames immediately preceded the appearance of a couple more Naga-ettes. Alex wiped out the Gnasher with the blades of both of his shields, and a quick spin took care of the Naga-ettes as well.

_**Geez, these are just like the Mystics we found at the cathedral before! Except we're much stronger, and they haven't improved in the least!**_

At last, Alexander reached a couple of large doors and opened them, leading into a large storeroom. At the very back of the room, sitting on a large rug, was a gigantic jewel they technically hadn't seen in 400 years.

Marle and the other finally caught up with Alexander, and the princess cheered at the sight of their discovery. "The Rainbow Shell!!"

Alex allowed himself to revert from his Drive Form, and Crono appeared beside him. All six of the fighters stood in front of the Rainbow Shell, gazing at it for a few moments. Lucca noticed something beside the shell and grabbed it. "What this... a letter?"

Her eyes widening in surprise, Lucca handed it to Marle, who read the first few words. She became equally surprised. "To Marle...?" the princess read aloud.

_Dearest Marle,_

_I know things are tough between you and your father. But nothing can break your bond of blood. Neither words of anger, or great distances. Someday, when you have children, you will understand. This special bond is part of a family tree which links us together._

–_Queen Guardia XXI, Leene_

There was a small silence as these words were digested by the group. Then Edward let out a laugh, to everyone's surprise. "Boy, can she tell it like it is!" he remarked with a smirk.

Marle smiled. "Father. Hang in there, we're coming!" She walked over to the Rainbow Shell, and picked up a small shard of the crystal.

* * *

"Members of the jury..." the judge intoned. "If he is guilty, stand to the left. If innocent, stand to the right." 

One of the jury stepped into the room and approached the judge. "Guilty." That man stood on the left side of the room. The jury began to file in as such, one by one...

Until finally, there were four men on the left and one on the right. "The verdict is in!" the judge proclaimed. "_Guilty_!!!"

Gasps came from the viewers above, and the King hung his head in shame. Meanwhile, the Chancellor made no effort to hide his greedy glee. "The Guardia line ends here," he stated. "This domain shall be mine! Take him away!"

Two guards approached the King...

"Wait!!!" a young woman's voice came seemingly out of nowhere.

The Chancellor, fairly surprised, looked around curiously. "Who is it!?"

A large silhouette appeared on the gigantic stained-glass portrait behind the judge. The silhouette seemed to step back for a moment, and then charge through with great force. The silhouette quickly became a figure, none other than Alphonse crashing through the stained glass, with Marle very close behind.

"**Father**!!!" Marle shouted, running toward King Guardia.

The guards and the jury fled the room, all being scared by this wild display of courage. "Nadia!" the King exclaimed.

Edward scowled as he stepped through the broken glass, soon followed by Alex, Crono, and Lucca. "Geez," the alchemist muttered, "if you had just let us in through the front door..."

The Chancellor's jaw had dropped. "P-Princess!" he shouted, struggling to maintain any posture. "Control yourself!" But finally, he regained some measure of confidence and sneered at her. "You're too late! The King has been found guilty. Even kings are subject to our laws."

"No, this was a set up!" Alphonse argued as the party came into the main circle of the court.

"Nonsense!" the Chancellor shot back. "The King's a crook!"

Marle fished the Rainbow Shell's shard out of her pocket. "But the treasure is right here!" The shard shined with its rainbow sparkle into the entire court, and everyone stared confoundedly at it.

"**Impossible!!**" the Chancellor screamed, moving as far away from the party and the King as possible.

Edward grinned and cracked the knuckles of his left hand menacingly. "You're little scheme is over, Chancellor! Creating this fraud to usurp the throne... Nice try! It seems its **your** turn to wait three days for the guillotine!"

The Chancellor coughed and turned away, suddenly looking flustered. "Grrr... I mean... uh..."

Marle tilted her head to the side a little. "Huh?" Now everyone was confused by the Chancellor.

The old man paced back and forth for a few moments, but then suddenly laughed evilly. "Hee hee hee! It's not the plot you think! I'm here to avenge my ancestors!"

Alexander looked toward the judge and the King. "Your Honor! Your Majesty! I suggest you vacate the room immediately!"

The judge quickly got out of his seat and bolted toward the door. The King looked at the Chancellor, then at his daughter, and then at Alexander. With a nod, he quickly turned around and left the room as well.

The Chancellor moved his hands in an incantatory manner. "Super, ultra, presto... _**transform-o!!!!!!**_" Everyone jumped back as the Chancellor was covered in a multicolored light accompanied by electrical energy. Two bright flashes filled the room as the transformation completed, and what was in the Chancellor's place surprised everyone.

It seemed to be a giant, blue-skinned cross between a bear and an insect. Lucca drew out her gun. "Great. A monster posing as the Chancellor."

Edward frowned. "This guy kinda looks like..." He paused, and his expression instantly became one of shock. "Oh God! It's **Yakra**!" he cried out, remembering the beast that had been their first boss battle at the very beginning of the adventure.

"Yakra's _descendant_!" Alexander corrected the alchemist, summoning the Lightning Guard Lockshield to his hand as both sides prepared for battle. "Yakra XIII!"

The young alchemist snarled. "Well, that sure explains one _hell_ of a lot!" Glaring at Yakra XIII, he growled, "I guess we get to pay **you** back for landing us on death row earlier, don't we?!"

Yakra XIII growled in return, and stood up on its hind legs, opening its mouth wide. But from its blind side, a blue spark of energy traveled across the ground and made contact with Yakra XIII from behind. Suddenly, Yakra was encased in a block of ice at the moment it was about to release its attack. From Yakra's still-open mouth, a brown smog spewed forth violently. Or, at least, it would've if the block of ice wasn't in the way. With nowhere to go, the smog was forced back down Yakra's windpipe, and then pressurized by the rest of the attack that was on the way.

By the time the ice faded away, Yakra was choking and gagging on his own attack. Lucca grinned and fired a shot at the beast, hitting it right above a claw. Crono then brandished his katana and charged, and Yakra finally managed to recover.

Yakra reared up again and then slammed back down onto the ground, causing very powerful tremors to race through the ground, throwing everyone off their feet and onto either their stomachs or their backsides. Then it grinned. _"Heard about you from the ancestors!"_ it declared in its deep deformed voice. At this, Alexander panicked and started running toward Yakra XIII using his improved Quick Run ability.

_"Your weaknesses are... **This** is it!"_ Yakra shouted, and two pores on the beast's back opened up wide and shot out two projectiles. Alexander stopped in his running and looked up at the projectiles. They were three gigantic needles revolving concentrically through the air... and Alex could see, as the needles angled downward, that they were bearing straight down on him!

Alexander quickly switched his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal design and called out, "_Reflega_!" The needles impacted the barrier of light that immediately surrounded him and bounced off into wild directions. Edward, a fair distance away, was forced to dodge to the side as one of the deflected needles was thrown into his direction.

The spell petered out, and an explosion of light sent the potential damage hurtling into Yakra XIII's body. And yet, it didn't really seem to do all that much. Yakra got back up quickly, and Alexander took a tentative step back as the beast looked ready to charge.

Then, unexpectedly, Yakra XIII was slowly lifted off its feet and up into the air. Underneath it, hefting it up in an impressive display of strength, was Alphonse. As Yakra XIII squirmed above him, Alphonse looked toward his brother, who definitely didn't look surprised by this turn of events.

"Catch!" Alphonse shouted as he launched Yakra into the air, sending the beast hurtling with a feral roar.

"Heh," Edward said as he clapped his hands. "Batter up!" The alchemist began to transmute the ground as Yakra flew through the air. A stone pillar started rising up from the ground at an angle, catching Yakra XIII in the stomach and carrying him over to the wall at a high speed... over to where one of Yakra's needles was sticking out of a crack in the wall.

Everyone had to cover their ears as Yakra's scream permeated the courtroom. The pillar began to crumble with the force of the impact, and Yakra crashed into the ground. The combined forces caused a lot of dust and debris to get kicked up into the air, concealing the view of Yakra from the party, who only now began to regroup and watch the beast's position tentatively.

The dust finally began to clear, and they all saw an angry Yakra on the ground, with a gigantic needle sticking out of the middle of his back. The beast slowly tried to move toward the party, hatred seeming to pour out of his beady eyes. _"Must... take... vengeance... Ancestors..."_ it choked out as it tried to inch its way toward the party.

Edward sighed. "You still aren't dead yet?" he whined, scowling at the weakened Yakra. He shook his head and then looked toward Alex. "You don't mind if I make the finishing blow, do you?"

"Not at all," Alexander replied after a moment, mostly curious to see what Edward had in mind.

The Fullmetal Alchemist grinned and stepped toward the middle of the courtroom. There was a slight shifting of the space around him as he summoned up his magic, and he then conjured a fireball in his hand. The fireball revolved around Edward as the alchemist rose slightly into the air, and then it suddenly disappeared into his heart.

Very slowly, a sphere of heat began to expand from Edward's body, denoted by wavering in the air along with a slight red discoloration. The sphere slowly expanded, even passing over the party without effect, until it enveloped the entire central circle of the courtroom. Yakra began to panic, and he squirmed under the intense heat.

Edward then suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "_Flare_!" In a single instant, the entire sphere of Fire magic ignited into intense flames, burning and scalding just about everything inside it except for the party. A couple of bright flashes shone through the nearly all-encompassing flames as Yakra XIII faded away under the pressure.

At last, the large sphere of flame petered out, leaving the party all on their own in the courtroom. Everyone else was absolutely impressed by the high-level magic. Alexander especially. "W-Wow!" he exclaimed. "That's... That's Flare!?" That was certainly much cooler than it looked on the 16-bit game itself.

_**Of course, **_**everything's****_ cooler in reality than in a 16-bit game,_** Joumae reminded him.

_Okay, but still!!_ Alexander protested, determined to hold Edward in high regard for his use of the magic.

Lucca smirked. "Well! I guess I have that to look forward to, then." Holstering her gun and rubbing her hands together, she said, "I can hardly wait..."

Alphonse stepped into the middle of the group and said, "_Heal_." A small light washed over everyone, healing their wounds. Which was good; they'd sustained a small bit of damage over the course of the entire ordeal.

Crono walked over to Yakra's old spot and looked at the ground.

Meanwhile, Marle looked over to the door, where King Guardia slowly made his entrance into the room. She looked downcast, and mumbled, "Father... I..."

The King turned away and hung his own head. "No, don't say it," he interjected. "I was wrong to be so stubborn."

Marle walked to her father's side. "No," she insisted, "I didn't even think about how you felt." The princess shook her head, slightly frustrated. "Um... I know it in my heart, but the words just came out wrong."

"I, too, have that problem," the King admitted, finally looking at his daughter. "I thought you left me, but then realized that it was I... who abandoned you."

The princess shook her head slowly, but then turned away to hide her face. "But I'm here now," she said quickly, sounding as if she was trying to cover up tears. "We'll talk about everything that's happened. About Crono, and mother, and..."

"Your mother..." the King repeated with a sigh. "How sad! It has taken me so long to understand what Aliza meant with her last words. 'Someday when Nadia grows up, she will bring her beloved to meet you. Welcome him warmly. It will be a day you remember forever.'"

Crono blushed. Marle blushed. Edward nudged Alex in the side with his elbow and grinned. Alex blushed. Lucca glared at Edward. Alphonse noticed that Crono had picked up a key from Yakra's last position.

But then Marle realized the implications of the King's statement. "You... heard her last words?"

"Of course!" the King confirmed with a small laugh. "You were so young! You ran around saying, 'Daddy, it's fun having all my favorite people here!' Seeing you so happy, she felt reassured, and left us quite peacefully."

Marle nodded and took a few steps away, contemplating. "So that's how it was..."

The King nodded. "Yes, why?"

The princess was silent for a moment, but finally gave her father a sideways, inquisitive glance. "I used to call you 'Daddy'?"

"You did," the King said with a small smile.

Marle's lip quivered, and she walked over to her father again. She embraced him in a strong embrace and said, "I'm sorry... _Daddy_. I'm really sorry for doubting you."

* * *

_Later, in the throne room..._

"I'll let you leave the castle..." the King said from his throne, "**but**... you be careful, now. Take care of her!"

Edward nodded. Lucca gave the King a small salute. "Yessir!" Alexander simply nodded as well. Crono and Alphonse, however, weren't present at the moment. They had gone on some kind of errand.

The doors to the throne room opened. "It's my turn, now..." an old man's voice said. Everyone turned around and saw the familiar face who had just entered the room.

"Melchior!" Marle exclaimed.

"Can't let you run the whole show," Melchior protested. "Let me make some weapons from the Rainbow Shell!" As he turned to walk away, he added, "Finally time for me to do somethin'. Watch and learn!"

As Melchior left, the King added, "Sorry, fellas. I'm terribly embarrassed... Take care of Princess Nadia, okay?" He paused for a moment, and then something suddenly crossed his mind. "But, wait... What happened to the _real_ Chancellor?"

"I'm right here!" a voice called out as the throne room doors opened up again. It was the Chancellor walking through the gates; the real Chancellor. He was closely followed by Crono and Alphonse.

The King was surprised. "Well, that _is_ some surprising news! If I may ask, where was he?"

Alphonse rubbed the back of his helmet sheepishly. "Would you believe me if I said he'd been stuffed into a chest on the fourth floor?"

Alexander's eyebrows shot up. "Hold it! Stuffed into a treasure chest...?" He still quite distinctly remembered the previous Chancellor they'd rescued, back in 600 AD...

"The nerve!" the Chancellor exclaimed. "That beast, tying me up and locking me in there..." Then his jaw dropped as he suddenly remembered something. "I don't have time for this! I have to get to work on the Moonlight Parade!" With that, he dashed out of the building.

The rest of the party started to chuckle, but Alex was still left dumbfounded. Joumae was also laughing, and he managed to say, _**Yep, the game universes still get their weird moments, no matter how hard you try to rationalize them.**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	29. Sunshine Every Time

Chapter 28  
Sunshine Every Time

Melchior was knelt down in front of the Rainbow Shell, his tools nearby. If you looked at the Rainbow Shell, you'd see that a small chunk of it was missing. Melchior had used it to create a few items. And he was rather proud of himself. The Shell had very special properties, and he couldn't hardly wait to show it to the adventurers.

Who, speaking of which, opened up the door to the basement not a moment too soon. Melchior stood up and smiled at them. "Ah, there you are! I have a few things for you!"

"What kind of things?" Alphonse asked, rather curious. Melchior had helped forge the Masamune before, so none of them had any doubts about the Guru's abilities.

Melchior stepped to the side, revealing three sparkling medieval helms set on the steps leading up to the Rainbow Shell. "This is a very rare stone indeed!" he declared. "As armor, it deflects magic! These Prism Helms don't provide maximum defense, but I assure you they'll hold up better than what you'll find in a shop."

Crono nodded and placed his hands on his head, and lifted up the Gold Helm that he had equipped so long ago. It materialized out of thin air as Crono lifted it; armor simply faded away once it was equipped onto the Chrono Trigger characters so that it didn't interfere with movement or the character's natural appearance.

Crono, Lucca, and Marle all donned the Prism Helms. Melchior nodded at them, and turned to gaze at the Rainbow Shell once more. "Interesting substance!" he noted. "I could make some great stuff with an alloy of it!"

"Alloy?" Alexander echoed, surprised. He hadn't quite remembered that part... but he definitely remembered that they were supposed to receive more than just some armor from this sidequest...

_**Ah, forgot something, did you?**_

"**AUGH**!" Alex suddenly cried out, clutching his head and shaking it vigorously. This sudden action startled everyone else, but Alex continued before they could inquire. "I _did_ forget something! There was one other sidequest that was supposed to go _before_ this, so that we could obtain more upgrades!"

Edward groaned. "Great... And what might this sidequest be, then?"

Alex took a deep breath to calm himself down, and collected his thoughts for a moment. After he had recalled the necessary information, he said, "Remember one of the things Gaspar said? About a special stone shining on each generation?"

Melchior gasped as he overheard this. "Surely he doesn't mean the Sun Stone!?"

Marle raised an eyebrow. "Sun Stone? Wasn't that originally is the kingdom of Zeal?" 

_Alex spoke to a man near the end of the hall, who said, "That's the Sun Keep you see on the southern continent. A Sun Stone, once the source of this world's power, was kept there. But when we began using our new energy source, it was sealed up just like the north palace. They claimed we don't need the energy of this tired, old planet."_

"Yes," Melchior confirmed with a grave nod, "the very same. Before the Mammon Machine, we used the world's first Sun Stone as Zeal's source of power. The Sun Keep was a place where the sunlight shined every moment of every day, and a Moon Stone kept in that light over aeons and aeons... will eventually become a Sun Stone."

The Guru paused in contemplation. "The Sun Keep of Zeal has long since been destroyed, but I do believe there's a natural one on an island somewhere, an island that's been around for millions and millions of years. But you need to get a Moon Stone first, and that's where I fall short on information."

"So," Alex interjected, "that's where I pick it up. I know where to get a Moon Stone. Let's go." He started to leave, but then looked back at Melchior and jokingly asked, "Will sixty-three-million, two-thousand, three-hundred years of sunlight be enough?"

Melchior didn't look at all surprised by the impressive span of time. "I believe so. If you can procure a Sun Stone, I can use it as an alloy to make more items for you. Now go!"

* * *

Strangely enough, Alexander directed the party into the Epoch, and they flew into the Future era. They flew southwest to Arris Dome, and then turned directly north. They flew beyond the shore of the ruined continent, and found a large island with a mountain cave in the center. But it didn't look like any ordinary cave, even from a distance.

Alexander parked the Epoch right in front of the cave entrance, and they entered the sandstorm around them. "This is the Sun Palace!" Alex shouted over the wind as all six fighters huddled together in the storm. "We look in here!"

"Palace?" Edward repeated incredulously. "It's a freakin' cave!"

Lucca started walking toward the entrance. "I wouldn't be too sure about that..." Everyone else started moving as well, and it wasn't too long before the found themselves out of the wind and in the "cave."

The inventor had been right. Under their feet was some sort of marble path, leading into a spacious rhomboidal platform in the middle of a spacious room. All around the platform and the path ahead of them, there was a glowing fluid golden substance floating around. And the entire place was rather humid and warm. And familiar.

"Good grief!" Marle exclaimed. "It looks just like the Ocean Palace!"

"Not that it _is_ the Ocean Palace," Edward was sure to note. "It just seems to be fashioned the same way."

They moved forward onto the large platform, and saw another multi-layered one up ahead. But there was a river of magma separating the two platforms, too large to get across. Crono stepped toward the edge of the platform and looked for a way across.

But as soon as he made that step, the magma right in front of him rocketed upward, forcing Crono to jump back. Something had shot out of the magma. Not that Alex hadn't been expecting that, really. He knew that there was one boss battle before they could finish up this particular sidequest.

What he wasn't expecting was the change in target. It was a large Heartless that had jumped out to face them. That did make a little sense, because Elaeus's Heartless must have permeated every section of the world by this time. But it wasn't just any Heartless, Alex realized with a tinge of annoyance.

_**Well, will you look at that!**_ Joumae exclaimed with glee. **_The Volcano Lord's making a second appearance. Haven't seen that guy since Agrabah!_**

The fat Volcano Lord Heartless charged up the orb of its large scepter with fire and then swung it in a wide berth, forcing the party to scatter and draw their weapons. A bright light rose up from every edge of the platform, creating the classic Kingdom Hearts II barrier that cut off the exit. Alexander was liking the situation less and less.

"Let me guess!" Edward called out as he transmuted a large hammer out of the ground. "Fire attacks aren't gonna do _crap_ against this thing!"

Actually, Alex wasn't entirely sure about that. He'd never actually taken note of any elemental effects – either positive or negative – in the universe of Kingdom Hearts. While playing the game as well as living it out, he'd found nothing of the sort. But he couldn't be sure, so he just replied with, "I wouldn't try it!"

"Ice and Water will do fine, though!" Marle pointed out as she shot a crossbow bolt at the Volcano Lord, which struck true. As Lucca prepared to fire and Edward closed in with his hammer, Marle and Alphonse started summoning up their magical energy. Edward jumped up and swung downward, but the head of his hammer met the Volcano Lord's scepter with equal force.

Lucca let off a few shots of her gun, some of which hit the Volcano Lord's fat crystalline belly. But one of them hit the Heartless's face, which caused it to stagger and lose its strength. This removed Edward's obstacle in turn, and the alchemist was now free to attack. Edward brought the hammer back... and rammed it right into the center of the large Heartless. It wasn't the hardest target in the world.

But it started a remarkable process. The Volcano Lord ended up ramming its back into the barrier, causing hexagonal flashes to appear above the edges of the arena. It hit with so much force that it actually rebounded toward Edward, who was drawing the hammer back for another strike. What then proceeded was a series of knockdowns just like that, with Edward batting away at the huge, bouncing Heartless.

_**Bwahahaha!!!**_ Joumae cackled, having been brought to an insane glee by the repetitive strikes.

The laughing, however, threw Edward's concentration off just a bit. It was taking a lot of effort to swing again and again, and this time he hadn't pulled back in time. The annoyed Volcano Lord finally recovered, and jumped high into the air before bearing down on Edward. Alexander ran into the scene and raised the Heartless Seal toward the Volcano Lord, stopping its advance.

As Edward backed up, Alexander spun around with the Volcano Lord and threw it back toward the wall, where it crashed yet again. By that point, Marle's and Alphonse's technique was ready. Above them this entire time, they'd been pooling the Water and Ice magics together above the Volcano Lord, creating a gigantic stalactite of ice that was hovering ominously in the air.

The veritable glacier dropped onto the Volcano Lord, point first. There was a large crash as the stalactite struck home, as well as a large fiery explosion. Once the debris cleared, they were presented with an unusual sight.

The Volcano Lord was gone. In its place, there were a large number of tiny, red, spherical creatures, all bearing the Heartless symbol, the characteristic eyes, and a small flame. The one Volcano Lord had shattered into twenty or so Fiery Globe Heartless!

Crono immediately knew what to do, brandishing his katana as he dashed for the Fiery Globes. He took one swipe at the throng of Fiery Globes, and he managed to take out three of them with the one strike. Edward, Marle, Lucca, and the others followed Crono's example quickly, taking out the incredibly weak Fiery Globes before they could regroup.

Soon, the entire arena was cleared. The barrier shone once before fading away, and every member of the party took a calm, deep breath. "Well," Alphonse said, "I guess that's it. What do we do now?"

Suddenly, the room began to rumble slightly beneath their feet, and semi-violent ripples raced across the surface of the magma. From all sides. Toward the platform. "Dang it, Al," Edward muttered, "you just had to go and say that."

The first set of ripples turned into a small splash as it hit the platform's edge, out of which a file of seven or so Fiery Globe Heartless popped out of to land on the platform. This happened on all of the edges of the platform, effectively surrounding the party. Like rapid-fire, more Fiery Globes jumped out of the lava as the first rank slowly converged onto the fighters. This kept on going and going, and the party soon found themselves surrounded by nearly a hundred of the little creatures!

Alexander growled and shouted, "_Thundaga_!" A bolt of lightning zapped a section of the Heartless near him, vaporizing the ones that were there. But more of the monsters quickly sped up to fill in the gap.

The entire party, standing back to back in a circle, started a mad frenzy of attacks on the throng of Heartless, trying to keep them at bay. Marle was doing her best to reload her crossbow as quickly as she could, Lucca fired as often as was safely possible with her gun, and the male party members were constantly chaining together physical attacks.

As Lucca cleared out her section and waited for her gun to recharge, she shouted, "There's too many! We need to take them all out in one shot!"

Alexander quickly raced through the possibilities in his mind. These things kept coming and coming from the lava, so they needed an attack that would completely _obliterate_ all of them. Lightning 2 wouldn't work; it was just a simple surface sweep. Fire 2 would be useless for the ones in the lava. Ice 2 had a shot, but it was still technically a projectile attack, and its reaction to the lava was uncertain. That brought Alex's ideas down to nothing...

Crono suddenly sheathed his sword and stepped into the center of the group. Edward growled but did his best to pick up the young swordsman's slack. Crono began summoning his magical energy, and a green glow began to gather about him.

Alex's jaw dropped for a moment. Crono already had _that_ spell!?

Slowly, Crono floated into the air, and the glow around him became gradually more intense. As it shone onto the Fiery Globes, their advance was stunned by the bright light. Then, all at once, the glow disappeared. A hemisphere began to rise up around them, starting from the edges with an impressive radius. Once the hemisphere was fully formed, enveloping the platform in green light, it slowly began to fade away, starting from the top. The room got slowly and slowly brighter until all of the energy contained in the green field was released, in something that could only be described as a blinding, slow-motion _explosion_ of light.

It took a few moments for the light to fade. Alex unshielded his eyes once he felt secure enough, and looked around. They had been unharmed by the powerful spell, since they were Crono's allies. But the Fiery Globes had completely disappeared. If he had looked up in time, he would've seen a solid pink mass of hearts rising into the air before disappearing.

Crono landed back on the ground, and he got several mixed looks from the rest of the party. Alexander's betrayed his absolutely dumbfounded state. "What the **heck**! How did you manage to pull off Luminaire before me!?"

They heard another splash from the front of the platform, and everyone quickly turned to see what it was. It was one last Fiery Globe Heartless, but... it was particularly large and bloated, as if it had swallowed something bigger than itself. In almost a docile way, it looked up at the party and stared at them for a few moments with its glowing eyes. There was an awkward, almost amusing silence between the Heartless and the group.

Then, it jumped up in fright, turned around, and dashed away. A long platform completely spanning the river of lava rose up as the fearful Fiery Globe crossed over. Seeing that they now had a way of getting across, the party immediately started to chase the Heartless, using the new platform as their pathway.

The second platform was symmetrical, with the path splitting to the sides before reuniting on the second platform, up the stairs. The party chased the bloated Heartless all the way to the end of the second-level platform, where the Fiery Globe suddenly tripped over between two statues. A red flash emanated from the monster, and a pink heart rose into the air. Where the Fiery Globe had been, there was a large, black, spherical stone.

Lucca adjusted her glasses as she regarded the object. "This is the ancient Sun Stone? It doesn't seem to have an ounce of energy left in it."

Alphonse nodded. "We'll need to recharge this Moon Stone with sunlight, but it'll take aeons."

At this, Alexander grinned and stepped toward the Stone. "Well, we'd better get started. This'll take a lot of time." He picked up the Stone, tucked it under his arm, and began to carry it out of the Sun Palace.

* * *

A short jump in time through the Epoch later, they found themselves in the Prehistoric era. Alex directed them to the ruins of the Tyrano Lair, and they then flew east-northeast to find a small island with a small cave sitting on it. They landed in front of the cave, and walked inside.

There was very little inside; merely a few sets of stone steps toward the back of the cave, where there was a pillar of light shining down from a hole in the ceiling. Edward looked around for a few moments, and finally rested his gaze on the spot in the light. "Will this place work?"

Marle looked around as well. "It doesn't look like it ever gets dark in here. There's always plenty of light!"

Alexander knelt down and placed the Moon Stone in the sunlight, making sure it was secure in its spot. "Alright, we'll leave it here. Now we'll jump to the Future and pick it up when it's charged!"

Alphonse nodded. "Well, back to Epoch."

Back into the Epoch they went, and jumped back into the Future. Fortunately, the natural Sun Keep hadn't changed its place on the globe over the entire course of time by more than a few feet, so there was no trouble in finding it again. They parked in front of the cave, and walked inside to pick up their prize.

Except that their prize wasn't there. Lucca gasped at the sight. "It's gone!! The Moon Stone is gone!"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like it'd really stay there all throughout time! Pretty naïve, if you ask me." He stepped toward the light, knelt down, and brushed his automail hand across the ground. He ended up moving a fair amount of soil and dust from over the years. "Looks like it's been gone for ages. Let's try another time period."

* * *

So they tried the next available time period, which was 1000 AD – the Present era. Upon inspection in the Sun Keep cave there, they discovered a vital anomaly. When they inspected the spot where the Moon Stone had been, there was a distinctly bare, circular patch of rock.

"Looks like someone from this time had taken it," Alphonse suggested. "But who?"

Eyes turned to Alexander, who sighed. "Alright, alright!" he said quickly, knowing that they were angry with him for not bringing up this information sooner. "The mayor of Porre Village has it!"

Marle scowled. "Oh, that guy? Good grief." When inquiring looks were shot at her, she explained, "He's just about the greediest guy you'll meet. I had the... misfortune of meeting him when he reported to the castle one time. Seriously, the only way you'd probably ever get 10 gold pieces from him was if you danced like a chicken and made a fool of yourself!"

"Gah..." Edward groaned. "So, what you're saying is, we're not gonna get it from him that easily." Grinning and placing his fist in his open palm, he added, "Other methods will work."

Crono went wide-eyed and waved his hands back and forth in a preventive gesture. Lucca nodded to support him. "We had to make a prison escape for a pointless crime already. Do you want to do that again for a real one?"

Edward lost his hot air, and deflated. "Well then, what **are** we supposed to do? Alex?"

"Well, we go to Porre Village first, but not to the mayor's manor," Alex replied, and started walking out toward the Epoch outside.

It was a pretty simple operation, but clever. They went toward the café on the east side of the town, called the Snail Stop. The barkeeper there had some jerky, which he was willing to sell for a hefty price. Though it wasn't really all that hefty, considering Alex's budget.

They took the jerky into the Epoch and flew to the Middle Ages. In that version of Porre Village, they walked over to the Elder's house and entered. There was a woman working at the small counter directly ahead of them, working frantically to make a meal somehow. She turned around, saw the party, and immediately noticed the jerky in Alex's hands. "I see you have some jerky!" she cried out as she noticed them, her nerves apparently shot by this point. "Will you sell it for... 10,000 gold pieces?" she asked tentatively, sounding just willing enough to pay the price.

_**Hmm, the Jerky had cost 9,900 gold. This'll earn us a profit of 100 if we sell it...**_

Alex ignored the voice in his head and held out the jerky to the woman. "Don't bother paying. You can just take it if you want?"

The woman nearly jumped in surprise. "You're... You're giving it away!?" She took the jerky from Alex and beamed at him. "I thought there were no kind people left in this world! You can bet **my** children are going to learn the value of _sharing_!"

As the woman went to work with her food ready, the party just looked at Alexander strangely as it slowly dawned on them what he'd done. Marle groaned and shook her head. "You've _got_ to be kidding me..."

* * *

_Porre Village, mayor's manor, 1000 AD..._

"You're interested in the Moon Stone?" the mayor echoed curiously as the party questioned him about its whereabouts. He thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well, someone simply left it here." He reached toward the spot between the couch he was sitting on and the cabinet to one side, and brought out the Moon Stone. It was glowing with a faint light; a sign of the amount of sunlight it had absorbed so far.

"Seems important to you folks," the mayor continued, smiling at them. "Why don't you take it!"

Marle hesitantly reached forth and took the Moon Stone, her jaw looking unhinged at this point. Through the example they'd given to the mayor's ancestor 400 years ago, they'd turned the greedy man into the most generous soul on the continent. It was simply mind-boggling.

As they left, Alexander grinned and said, "Well, the world's a better place even more, now. Let's finish up this quest!"

They traveled back to the Sun Keep and replaced the Moon Stone in its spot. Then, for the final time, they moved to the Future era to visit the Sun Keep there. When they visited the sunlit spot that time, it was still there, and it was glowing with an intense light.

Lucca was absolutely impressed. The energy radiating from the newly made Sun Stone was almost tangible. "Amazing! With **this** much energy I can make a powerful weapon!" As she picked up the Stone, she stated, "Let's go to my house now!"

* * *

_Back at Lucca's house, Present era..._

Lucca placed the Sun Stone in one of the numerous machines that took up most of the space in her home. Alexander glanced around as she did so, seeing all the books, tools, wires, and other things that littered the entire living room.

"I'll modify the Sun Stone to extract its energy..." Lucca said, speaking with pride as she explained what her intentions were with the machine she was using. "...then, we'll just vacuum-pack it into a cartridge..." She worked with the controls at the base of a large, cylindrical machine. An intense purple light shone from the very top of the machine as it processed the energy, which lasted for about eight seconds.

When it was done, Lucca pulled something out of the machine and looked back toward the party. "...and it's finished!" She brandished a new gun in her hands. To demonstrate it, she picked up a wrench lying on the floor and threw it up into the air. Lucca took aim, and fired a burst of intense golden energy at the wrench. The shot struck true, and the wrench was thrown against the wall. When the rest of the party inspected the tool, the metal in the spot where the shot hit had mostly melted away.

Lucca grinned. "I call it the Wondershot. Sometimes I amaze myself!"

At that moment, Taban came into the room, carrying something else in his hands. "Take a look, Lucca!" he called out. "I borrowed a bit of the Sun Stone to create something nifty!" Lucca took the item from Taban's hands and inspected them. It was a pair of large, expertly crafted sunglasses. Lucca pulled off her own glasses and put the Sun Shades on. She smiled, and Taban smiled back.

"Well," Edward said, "we're finally starting to see the fruits of our efforts. Now, let's see if Melchior has anything else for us."

* * *

"Ah!" Melchior cried out as the party presented their bounty to him. "The Sun Stone! I'll make an alloy out of it!" He immediately got to work, and the party waited a while during the process of forging. But when Melchior was finished, he had some impressive items to pay off the wait.

He held out yet another pair of glasses, in which the lenses were enhanced by the prism-like qualities of the processed Rainbow Shell and Sun Stone together. Lucca pocketed the glasses and appreciated them, but they all felt a little ripped off...

Melchior chuckled. "Heh, heh. Don't think that's the last of my bag of tricks!" He picked up a sheathed katana and held it out to Crono.

Surprised and pleased by this development, Crono reached out and took the sword, and immediately drew it out. The entire blade shone with a rainbow color, since it was made entirely out of the Rainbow Shell, and processed through the Sun Stone's energy.

"The Rainbow katana," Alex said, rather impressed. "That's the best weapon you're ever gonna get, Crono."

The swordsman nodded and tied the sheath of the Rainbow to his waist. Melchior nodded and said, "I finally feel like I'm doing something worthwhile!" With that being said, he walked past the party and left the basement, done forging items for now.

Alphonse sighed. "Well, I guess these sidequests are working out pretty well for us."

"Well, don't get to comfortable," Alex advised him. "We now have two sidequests down, but there are about four more left to go. We have a few more preparations to go through before we can fight Elaeus!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	30. Hero Remembered, Villain Slain

Chapter 29  
Hero Remembered, Villain Slain

At first, Alexander had once had a plan for going through the sidequests. He didn't want to go through them in a linear fashion, but he didn't feel like jumping around randomly either. So he'd decided on going through them linearly... backwards. With the Rainbow Shell sidequest first and working their way up the list.

The Sun Stone sidequest had interfered with that process, but now that it was finished, they were ready to move on with that plan. No one else really needed to know about it, either. As long as they got done, all would be well.

Feeling that decent progress had been made for the time being, Alex advised Crono, Lucca, and Marle to go back to the End of Time. He summoned up the portal with the Lockshield, and had Frog, Magus, and Robo come out to meet them. After the obligatory pause to allow the memories to flood in, Magus was left just the slightest bit dazed. Not enough to send his steady demeanor faltering, but it was betrayed by his speech. "Hmm... Will that happen _every_ time we switch in?"

"'Fraid so," Edward said, grinning because the three other-worlders were always in the party, and therefore didn't have to endure such a process.

"So, two of the six quests hath been completed," Frog said analytically as he processed the vision that had come to him. "Where shalt we venture now, Alexander?"

As they left the Present era's Guardia Castle, Alexander pointed toward the Epoch parked near the entrance to the forest ahead. "We gotta go into your time now, Frog. The Middle Ages has a couple of sidequests to do, and this one pertains to you especially."

* * *

They flew back in time to the Middle Ages, and they headed back toward a village they'd visited once before on their first sidequest: Choras Village. They parked the Epoch in the middle of the town square, and traveled east along a dirt road. After a while, the path curved to the left, and headed through the woods toward the northeast until they found a large building in their sights. 

It was something between a large cathedral and a small castle. Whatever it was, it was a fairly hefty medieval building, and it was completely in ruins. Alphonse looked up at it as they approached, and shook his metal head sadly. "Wow... There doesn't seem to be very much holding it up, structurally. Are we supposed to go in there? It sure doesn't look safe..."

Alexander looked around. It certainly looked more ruined on the outside than any 16-bit graphic could display. Whole sections of the building seemed to be gone, and rubble and stone of all kinds was simply strewn in all directions of the grounds. "Well, this is the place. The Northern Ruins have something important for us, and we gotta go in."

Frog became rather quiet as they walked through the front gates of the castle and entered the long, horizontal entrance hall. There was a green carpet stretching along the hallway, with each end stopping in front of a sectioned-off stairway. Each doorway was accompanied by torches spouting a blue flame, causing the entire hall to be filled with an eerie dark blue color. With the holes in the floor and the dark lighting, the place could generally be described with one word:**haunted**.

Alphonse shuddered. The spooky nature of these ruins was frightening him immensely.

Alex heard something blowing past his ear, something he hadn't had the misfortune to hear in a long time. It was the Black Wind, unmistakably. It didn't have a gale's strength, but it certainly flowed all throughout the hallways. He shuddered as a gust blew by him, unnoticed by the other party members.

Except one. Magus looked toward Alex as the young man shuddered, and recognized the reaction. As Frog, Edward, Robo, and Alphonse moved toward the leftmost stairway, he said, "So you do hear it?"

Alex had been startled by this question, so he jumped a little when he asked. But when he came to his senses and realized what Magus meant, he nodded slowly. Magus nodded back, and added, "It's permeating the very walls... There is definitely a strong aura of death in these ruins."

Permeating? That was an interesting way to describe it. Alex wouldn't have described it as such; the Black Wind hadn't seemed that strong to him. Perhaps he couldn't sense it as well as Magus could?

"C'mon, you guys!" Edward shouted back to them from the downward stairway they'd reached. "You're fallin' behind!"

Frog led the way down the stairs and into the basement of the castle. They saw another, shorter set of downward steps ahead of the landing. But as soon as they stepped onto those stairs, two ancient-looking suits of armor that had been set near the stairs... suddenly started moving. The armors drew out their swords, and ghostly auras appeared around them, bleaching them white.

Alexander recognized these monsters as Sentries. They had the Black Wind emanating from them strongly, too.

Alphonse shrieked at the movement, but Edward growled and ran toward one of the Sentries. He spun around and sent a swift kick with his automail leg at the Sentry, which struck the side of the armor...

...and phased right through. Edward finished following through with his attack, stumbling with the unanticipated lack of resistance. As he stumbled, the Sentry slashed with its own sword. It also phased right through Edward, but the alchemist reacted much more violently than the Sentry had. "**Gahh**!!" he cried out as the sword slashed through his body, and he stumbled onto the stairs. Alphonse quickly pulled his older brother back, and checked for damage.

Edward clutched his chest in pain, but there wasn't any wound at all. His clothes hadn't even shifted in the slightest. But there was definitely pain.

"Physical attacks won't work!" Alexander said, stepping back as the other Sentry swung at him. "Use magic only!"

Magus formed a couple of signs with his hands, and then intoned, "_Dark Mist_." Orbs of shadow surrounded him for a moment before disappearing. A white aura filled the hallway as a cloud of violet mist washed through the corridor, passing through the Sentries before disappearing through the wall. As the aura of magic left, the Sentries faded away in a red light, defeated by the powerful magic.

The wizard turned toward Edward and walked over to him, as the alchemist finally found the strength to sit up. Alphonse cast Heal on his older brother, and Magus contemplated the damage. "Hmph... Those armors weren't any physical manifestation. They were probably spirits haunting these ruins, only affected by magical means... Chances are, that sword cut into your very _soul_."

Alexander grimaced. That would certainly explain a bit. "Those Sentries can cut your health in half with one blow. If what you say is true, Magus, then that would make sense." He had to admit, it was more than he would've inferred from outside the game.

_**Aw, you're just jealous that he was the one who made the rationalization, and not you.**_

"Shaddup, Joumae," Edward growled, getting onto his feet with the support of his armored younger brother.

Once Edward was ready to go, they moved on down the hall, which turned to the left starting from the stairs' landing. Referring to the stairways guarded by Sentries, the hallway was completely symmetrical. So they had to go through the process again. Alexander used the Heartless Seal Lockshield and cast Magnega between the two ghostly enemies, drawing them together and damaging them. While they were held up, Frog cast Water 2 to wipe them out.

They climbed up the short stairs and found yet another problem. A door was straight ahead of them. However, there was a gigantic gap between them and the door, rendering it nearly impossible to make it over there. Alex sighed. This sidequest was going to take a while.

Yet Edward didn't look at all dismayed by the pit in their way. "Alright, I'll take care of it." He clapped his hands together and placed them near the edge of the pit. Bright blue sparks filled up the entire section of the hallway. The walls and floor around them seemed to recess a little, and the pit was slowly but surely covered up by a new section of stone flooring.

Alex was actually surprised. He hadn't thought of that at all. Good thing Edward had, or else they'd be spending a lot more time with this. Alchemy made things a whole lot simpler, and he was suddenly glad that he had been to Amestris first before coming here.

They walked through the door, and ended up walking through another door before entering a grand room. Right in front of them was a wide, long staircase, with large torches sprouting huge blue flames on either side. The six fighters climbed up the stairs and reached the main part of the room. There was a huge green carpet in the center of the rectangular area, and the only feature was in the center.

Frog gasped on the sight of the object and slowly walked toward it, as the others remained a reasonable distance behind him. The deformed knight approached the object and laid a gloved hand on the tall stone. It was the headstone of a grave. There were words written upon it, which Frog read aloud with as firm as voice as he could manage. "...'Cyrus, the fool who challenged Magus, rests here.'"

The knight took a deep breath, and faced the headstone with a solid gaze. "Cyrus. I hath returned. I shall honor my promise to thee!" With that, he drew out the Masamune and held it up, the point of the blade toward the ceiling. Slowly, a blue light began to fill the room as the spiritual energies combined, and the headstone became very bright.

Without warning, a spirit floated out from the headstone and stepped onto the ground before it, causing Alphonse to shudder and back away a little. The spirit was one of a heavily armored knight, in black and gold armor adorned by violet cloth. Frog held the Masamune down at his side, and gazed upon the ghost. "Cyrus..."

The ghost nodded at him. _"Glenn... Thank you... for making the journey here."_

Magus looked rather intrigued. It wasn't often that you got to meet the spirit of one of your former enemies. It was almost uncomfortable.

Frog looked almost on the verge of tears. "Dear Cyrus... Thou must... think ill of me."

Cyrus's spirit smiled at Frog. _"On the contrary! You have come far, my friend."_ The ghost paused for a moment, contemplating his words. _"When Magus defeated me, I thought of all those whom I had left behind. King Guardia, Queen Leene, and, of course, you..."_

"Cyrus..." Frog mumbled again, speechless.

The knight stepped forward and placed his hand just above Frog's shoulder. There was no contact, but the meaning was there. _"Your skill and dedication is superior! I can rest now, knowing that everyone is in good hands."_ As Cyrus slowly floated back toward the headstone, he said, _"Goodbye, my friend!"_

Frog started walking after Cyrus. "Cyrus, wait! I... I...!"

But the spirit started to dissolve into the headstone, and the spiritual aura began to fade. Cyrus's last words echoed through the room: _"The Queen... Look after Queen Leene. Alas, and farewell... G...le...n...n..."_

"Cyyyruuus!!!" Frog screamed as he dashed toward the headstone. But his hands struck the stone just as the ghost had completely faded. He fell to his knees, keeping his hands on the stone. "I'm so sorry, Cyrus."

Alexander had heard the Black Wind slightly howling in his ears for a while, but the wind suddenly stopped. The omen of death had evaporated into... well, thin air.

Magus shook his head. So much drama had been caused by destroying that knight. Frankly, he didn't care so much for it, but he found it a nuisance that it had come back to haunt him. Literally.

Frog suddenly gasped. The Masamune seemed to be rattling a little bit, and it was beginning to glow. "The Masamune!?" he exclaimed, holding up the blade.

A couple of bright flashes lashed out from the blade, startling everyone there. The blade slowly floating up into the air, and began to spin, gradually increasing in speed and brightness. "Heh heh," a voice echoed into the room, seeming to come from the blade itself. The voice was familiar. "That's it!"

The sword had become a white silhouette by that point. The whole party had to protect their eyes from its glow. When the light faded, two figures were now floating in its place, slowly floating in the air behind the headstone. It was Masa and Mune themselves.

Mune smiled, and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "That was special!"

Masa nodded in agreement. "Quite. I guess that means a Hero's power comes from within."

"Mucho metaphysical, man," Mune commented.

"Like, **mind** over matter, Mune!" Masa agreed, grinning.

Everyone was thoroughly confused by this banter, Frog not the least of all. He blinked a couple of times, sorting out their speech until a theme became apparent. "My... mind?"

Mune just about ignored him. "Now for a nice, full-on test!"

Masa grinned. "It's thrashin' time!" The two entities struck past each other again, and another bright flash filled the room. The light soon passed, and the complete Masamune floated down into Frog's hands once more. But it looked quite different. The blade was broader and more lustrous, and the edge seemed incredibly sharp compared to how it had been before.

Frog held the blade firmly by the hilt, quite impressed. "'Tis flowing with strength and vigor," he noted. He gave it a wide, expert swing in a practice attack, swinging in a full 360 degrees and slicing through the air. Frog nodded in understanding after the test. "Ahh! 'Tis the true identity of the Masamune!!" Turning back toward Cyrus's headstone, he quickly said, "Cyrus, I promise to fulfill your wishes!"

Holding up the new and improved Masamune, he stated, "'Tis a sad farewell!" Moving back toward the party, he shouted, "Onward, all!"

As everyone began to leave, Alexander looked back toward the headstone. The writing on the large stone tablet had changed.

_Cyrus sleeps here,  
avenged by his friend Glenn._

* * *

"So that's pretty much it?" Edward asked skeptically as they left the Northern Ruins. They were all present and accounted for, except for Alexander, who had left quickly to loot the upper floors of the ruins. 

"'Twas my quest," Frog pointed out. "Cyrus is at peace, and now I am further empowered. Was not that the objective?"

"Alright, alright," Edward muttered. "Just seemed a little short, is all."

A voice called out from the ruins' entrance, "Hey, guys!" Everyone else turned to see Alexander running out of the ruins, holding a large _something_ in his hands. "Guess what I got!"

Magus glanced at the object as Alexander came closer, and he quirked an eyebrow upon recognition. "A crossbow?"

Alex grinned. "Not just any crossbow," he said, holding the large ranged weapon up for them to see. "It's the Siren. Just about the best weapon we're going to find for Marle in any time or place. If I remember correctly, this thing has the ability to inflict the Stop status effect at random times."

"How does it do that?" Robo asked. Alexander suddenly found himself at a loss, and it clearly showed on his face.

Magus grunted and held a hand over the Siren and closed his eyes. "Hmm... There does seem to be a slight magical aura around it. Perhaps Marle will find some use for this after all."

As Alexander opened up a portal to the End of Time, Edward turned toward Frog again. "Another thing's bugging me. Your name. It's really Glenn, right?" Frog nodded at this, and Edward continued, "So how come you've been having us call you Frog all this time?"

Frog (or rather Glenn) looked a little sheepish as he replied, "'Tis a mite embarrassing, but the amphibian tongue has some difficulties in pronouncing my name. So when thou hast requested my name, I hadst selected Frog to avoid the trouble."

Robo nodded hesitantly. "But it seems a little dishonorable to refer to you as just a Frog. Do you mind if we call you by your real name from now on?"

Glenn smiled. "It would not be unwelcome."

Alexander had finished passing on the Siren to Marle, and had rejoined the rest of the group. "Well, that wraps up that sidequest."

"But I find myself agreeing with the shorty, here," Magus stated. As Alphonse restrained Edward, the wizard said, "That particular excursion was shorter than usual. Isn't there another one we can take care of while we're here?"

"Perhaps," Glenn offered, "I couldest be allowed to put the Masamune to the test?"

Alex was slightly caught off guard by this. True, it had been pretty short, but doing two in one outing? On one hand, it would save a lot of time, especially if they didn't switch party members. On the other hand, the other sidequests in this time period went against his plan of going through the sidequests linearly.

"Well..." Alex mumbled, at somewhat of a loss, "are you guys really up to it?"

He received a generally positive answer for his effort. Edward managed to free himself from Alphonse, and said, "Yeah, let's just get these things over with!"

Alex sighed. His plan had gone completely out the window. "Alright. Back to the Epoch it is. We're going to check up on our old friend, Ozzie."

* * *

Just east of Magus's old Lair, where the Black Omen was now hovering, was another lair that was similar in design to Magus's. But, all in all, it was merely a cheap spinoff. It had only one small tower, not even close to approaching the heights that Magus's Lair had reached. 

"Hmph," Magus grumbled as he sat in the Epoch, waiting for them to arrive at Ozzie's Fort. "That general has been more trouble than he's worth. I believe I'm going to enjoy this."

"We're _all_ gonna enjoy this," Edward cut in. "Seeing him destroyed once and for all will do a lot of good for my mood, personally."

Robo also had an idea. "Besides, if Ozzie is defeated here and now, the Mystics will have no negative influence through the next 400 years. Perhaps human and Mystic relations in the Present will improve because of this."

"We're here," Alexander said over the conversation, as he brought the Epoch in for a landing. The Epoch slowed down and came to a stop, and then hovered slowly lower and lower until it touched down. All six fighters exited the craft, and looked up at the fortress. Again, it wasn't nearly as imposing as Magus's had been.

The party walked through the dark forest surrounding the structure, and eventually found the small front gate. They entered, and found themselves standing in a small, linear entrance hall. As they walked along the red carpet and came to the first fancy stairway, they saw Ozzie himself standing at the upper landing.

"Come on in!" Ozzie exclaimed, not having recognized them quite yet. "This is the Great Ozzie's place." Then the appearances of the party suddenly struck him. He flinched at the sight of Magus, screaming, "**What the...! ...Whoa!! **You... you're the great Magus!"

Magus laughed aloud and stepped forward. "You're doing well, Ozzie!" he remarked, sounding more mirthful than he'd ever been since he'd joined the party.

Ozzie was suddenly overcome with rage. "The _nerve_! Deserting your fellow Mystics to serve these humans! You're a traitor! You're not our King!" He took a deep breath to recover himself, and demanded, "Why did you desert us?" He slowly floated backward, through the doorway to the next room.

Magus grinned and took pursuit, with the rest of the party close behind. After climbing the stairs and going through the doorway, they were in a much wider, more rectangular room. Ozzie stood between a couple of candelabra, and did a take as the party kept on following him. "You pesky, low down, good-for-nothings!"

Glenn pretended to look insulted. "Oh dear! We merely take'th pursuit, and thou call us good-for-nothings! An unjust insult, indeed!"

"Grrr!" Ozzie growled. "I'll have you begging for mercy." Looking back toward the stairway behind him, he shouted, "Flea!"

Alexander, Edward, Alphonse, Glenn, and Magus flinched as the room went dark for a moment, and Flea_him_self appeared in the room. Joumae cackled in Alex's mind as Flea assumed a feminine pose. "You sent for me?" Flea asked.

"Oh, God," Edward muttered. "It's the drag queen. How the hell is he still alive?"

The magician noticed Magus among the party, and began to laugh in a feminine manner. "Well! If it isn't Sir Magus. Who'd you bribe to get in here? Traitors like you deserve a beating."

Magus responded with a mock sigh. "Ah, Flea. As annoying and repulsive as ever." He chuckled. "Bribing? I'm afraid to say that no bribing was involved. Your fortress was standing in the _open_ for all to see, and I simply couldn't resist the chance to visit."

A flicker of annoyance crossed Flea's expression, and he took on a fighting stance. "Oh great Ozzie, stand back, and let **me** take care of these cretins."

Ozzie nodded, and began to float out of the room once more. "I'm counting on you, Flea!"

Flea grinned. "Get ready for a**slapping** good time... get it!?"

_**Okay, that's it,**_ Joumae muttered, his glee suddenly gone. **_He deserves to die for _that_ lame joke._**

"Good grief," Alexander muttered, fairly surprised that even Joumae was put off by that joke. Summoning the Heartless Seal, he muttered, "Time to squash you like the bug you are!"

Flea rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like that's any better."

Alphonse charged first, with a fist pulled back as he ran toward Flea. The magician smirked and blew a kiss at the armored soul, which turned into an intense stream of flame that struck Alphonse with great force. After the impact, the flame split upward and formed the shape of a heart before dissipating.

But since Alphonse was hardly more than armor, he was left in a relatively good condition in spite of the burns. Flea was taken aback as Alphonse closed in and punched him in the face, sending him sprawling backward. Edward transmuted the ground, and created a row of Stonespikes that rose upward as Flea stumbled, ramming into him and sending him back upward.

Magus brought out his scythe and jumped toward Flea. He suddenly disappeared for a moment and appeared behind the magician, and gave Flea one good sweep of his scythe's blade. The slicing motion sent Flea back onto the ground with a fair bit of damage.

Flea got back up quickly, and saw Alexander bringing his shield up. "_Blizzaga_!" the boy yelled, bringing the shield back down and shooting a large cluster of ice crystals at Flea. The magician quickly sent more flames into the incoming magical ice, and the two forces canceled each other out. But as Flea did so, Glenn came in from the side and slashed at Flea twice with his improved Masamune.

Suddenly, Flea floated toward the upward staircase in the back of the room, immensely peeved by the results of the battle. "Oh, just you wait! We'll teach you a lesson!" the cross-dresser promised as he floated up the stairs.

The party followed suit, and entered the next room. It was a particularly tall room, with a narrow walkway in the center. There were two pits on either side, spanning the length of the room. In the middle of the pits, there were chains extending down into the pits, and there were small moving conveyor belts right before them.

Directly above them was a small balcony, where Ozzie was looking down on them. He was standing next to a pulley system like the ones he'd often operated back in Magus's Lair. "Howdy!" he greeted them with a grin. His grin quickly disappeared, and he shouted, "You're nothing but common thieves! Anyone who tries to steal my treasure is looking for a **very** cruel death!"

Ozzie began to operate the pulley system, making the pulley revolve by spinning the handle. "And away we go!" Two blue-skinned Ogre-like creatures rode the pulleys upward and jumped onto the conveyor belts. Everyone took fighting stances as they looked ready to attack...

But then the creatures fell over the other side of the conveyor belts as they carried them over, and they plummeted back down into the pit. The conveyor belts had been far too short, and the creatures had been too dumb to step off in time.

Magus sighed, but couldn't help himself from grinning. As they looked back up at Ozzie, they found the general with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Oz...Ozzie's in a pickle!!! ...Outta here!" He disappeared from the balcony, probably to appear further on ahead.

"He's gotta run out of rooms at some point!" Edward growled as they ran up the stairs ahead of them and into the next room.

It was a room completely similar to the one they'd fought Flea in. _**Oh, just try to guess what we're doing **_**here**

Ozzie was standing at the back of the room once more. He seemed surprised by their pursuit. "You **still** haven't given up!?" he asked incredulously.

Edward shrugged. "Well, the way I see it, you're losing 0 for 2. If these odds keep up, we'll be winning in no time."

"Grr," Ozzie muttered, "don't follow all the trends, you punk. How about a good thrashing?! _Slash_!!"

The room darkened for a short moment, and Slash himself appeared in the room, between the party and Ozzie. "Yooouuu rang?" Slash asked nonchalantly, facing the fighters calmly.

"Slash, don't let me down!" Ozzie ordered as he retreated once more.

Slash looked at all of the party members, his gaze finally resting on Magus. "At first I didn't really want to slice and dice ya, but now it sounds kinda fun!" He drew his sword out in a flash, and said, "Ready?"

Magus grinned as he brought out his own blade. "Let's see you actually hit me first."

"If you insist!" Slash immediately replied, swinging his sword downward in Magus's direction. A white arcing blade of energy – a Slash wave – raced toward Magus, which the wizard quickly sidestepped and followed up with a charge. Magus closed in and exchanged a few blows with Slash, their blades clashing but not finding a mark.

Glenn then jumped up and brought the Masamune's blade down on Slash while he was locked down with Magus. Slash took the blow and staggered to the side, allowing Magus to slice at the Mystic general with his scythe's blade.

With a quick sideways flip, Slash was back on his feet. He let loose another Slash wave at Magus and Glenn, who quickly got out of the way. But this left a problem; the Slash wave was now headed for Alexander.

The Interference quickly switched his Lockshield to the Lightning Guard and let loose a Slash attack in return. The two Slash waves collided in the center of the room, dissipating into a wide release of energy upon contact. Robo ran toward the general and let loose an incredibly rapid flurry of punches, his hand striking like automatic gunfire.

Slash recoiled from the flurry of attacks and fell back toward the onward staircase. "Ouch!" He slowly retreated up the stairs, and the party followed once again.

They entered a long hallway. At the very end it turned to the right, but there was a little alcove after the turn that had a large treasure chest sitting inside it, but there was a large blade resting above the ground right before the chest. Ozzie was waiting on a raised platform along the turn, next to another crank. "Come on, sweethearts!" he called out as he started turning the crank. The blade dropped down and clanked onto the ground, rose back up quickly, and dropped down again as Ozzie worked the pulley.

Alexander shrugged and motioned for the others to follow him. He walked toward the corner in the hallway, but turned to the right and walked right past the dropping blade, completely ignoring it. As Alex nearly reached the stairs at the end of the hallway, Ozzie stopped using the machinery for a second and looked toward Alex with confusion.

"Don't you want the treasure box?" he asked. Ozzie continued turning the crank, and said, "Probably filled with goodies!"

The party looked back, and saw an Imp walking down the section of the hall they'd just walked through. The Imp saw the treasure and cheered. "Found the treasure!!" it cried out, and charged blindly toward the box. It passed right under the blade as the trap dropped down, and ended up being sliced to oblivion.

Ozzie quickly stopped working the pulley. "Oz... Ozzie's stumped!! Outta here!" He disappeared once more.

Robo walked back toward the treasure chest and opened it up. He pulled out a large glass bottle from the box. After his eyes blinked a couple of times, he reported, "It seems to be a Full Ether."

Magus walked toward the corner of the hall opposite the stairs, intrigued by something in the wall. There was a spot where the edges of the stone pieces lined up, creating a seam of sorts along the wall. Magus tried his best to grab onto that edge, and pulled back. A narrow section of the wall simply turned outward, revealing a hidden passageway.

Edward was impressed. "Woah!" They all walked through the small passage and found themselves in a small storage room. In the very back of the room, there were some objects that Magus found quite intriguing.

There was a large, fancy scythe that looked far more powerful than his current one, called the Doom Sickle. There was also a cape and a helm that looked right for Magus to wear, which the wizard identified as being magically enhanced. The Gloom Cape and Gloom Helm.

Magus immediately donned this gear and wielded his new scythe. The pieces of armor disappeared so as not to interfere with his appearance, but Magus looked impressed overall. "So it seems this particular quest _does_ have some benefits for me."

With that little distraction taken care of, the party moved on to the next room. This room was particularly large and wider than the other battlefield rooms they'd been in. This time, Ozzie, Flea, and Slash were all waiting for them.

"Heh heh," Ozzie chuckled, sounding more confident now. "Not so fast, friends. I'm not going to make it that easy for you." He struck a pose. "Ozzie Pants!"

"Flea Vest!" Flea declared.

"Slasher 2!" Slash added, brandishing his sword.

"These unique items," Ozzie exclaimed, "make us **invincible**!"

"We'll see about that! We still outnumber you!" Alexander declared, summoning the Lightning Guard to his hand. Speaking to his allies, he said, "Area attacks are the name of the game, guys!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Edward said, taking a fighting stance. "Over here, Al!"

"Gotcha!" Alphonse replied, running toward his brother.

Edward received a boost up into the air, and the alchemist clapped his hands, which then emitted an orange light. "Here we go!!" He slammed his hands into the ground on the fall, and the alchemic reaction raced through the ground. Gigantic stone fists rose up from the ground, crashing into each of the three generals and sending them up high into the air.

Robo took a turn with an attack of his own. He spread his legs and outstretched his arms, and the pieces of his armor around his midsection opened up to reveal an electric core. With the exposure, the electricity began to spark throughout the room, creating a shocking field that damaged the enemies greatly.

When the attacks finished, Ozzie, Flea, and Slash recovered as quickly as the could and, before the party could rush in to attack, began summoning up their magics simultaneously. Alex realized what they were doing, and shouted, "Everyone! Stand close to me!" as he switched his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal.

"_Delta Force_!!" the three Mystic generals intoned. Between the three of them, a triangle-based pillar of energy was formed, with them at the points. More magical energy first rose up from Flea, filling up the pillar with Fire magic energy. Then the pillar changed to blue as Water magic energy from Slash was charged into it. Then it became golden as Lightning magic energy from Ozzie filled it up. The attack finished off with a large flash of white energy that filled up the entire room.

The three generals looked at the party to see what damage they'd done, but they only saw a light barrier. The barrier quickly faded after a moment, revealing all six fighters huddled in a group, with Alexander holding up the Heartless Seal in the center. He'd used Reflega to fend off the Triple Technique.

The second effect of Reflega kicked in, creating an explosion of light that sent the potential damage hurtling into the three generals, damaging them with as much energy as they would have inflicted. And it was a significant amount, considering the attack that had been used.

Magus summoned up his Shadow magic energy, and thrust a hand forth to initiate his attack. "_Dark Matter_!" The room suddenly darkened, and a black pyramid appeared in the center of the room, floating in the air. It looked like it was filled with stars as it span around three-dimensionally. A bright pyramid was spinning similarly inside it, and the conflicting energies caused a bright flash to occur, accompanied by a powerful wave of Shadow magic energy.

There were screams and cries of agony as Slash and Flea faded away in bright red glows. Ozzie stumbled to his stubby knees, gasping for breath. "Wh...What in the...!" he growled, at an utter loss because of the barrage of attacks he'd just been through. His comrades had been destroyed, and he was now outnumbered 6 to 1.

"That's 0 for 4!" Edward said with a grin. "Looks like I placed my bets right!"

Ozzie said nothing, but hovered slightly and retreated once more into the stairway behind them. And once more, the party chased him down.

They were at a much smaller room now, and there was no escape from here. They'd finally cornered Ozzie, who stood at the back wall in front of three switches. Ozzie glared at Magus, shouting, "Magus! You lied when you said you wanted to create a world of evil! You _used_ me!"

Magus rolled his eyes. "Oh, how dreadful," he remarked sarcastically. He paused for a moment, and pretended to notice something intangible. "Say, can you hear that, Ozzie?" he asked, as he slowly brandished the Doom Sickle. "It's the sound of the Reaper..."

"I can't lose!" Ozzie yelled defiantly. "What would become of my Mystics? I **must** win!" With that, he summoned up his nearly indestructible ice shield around himself, and cowered within it.

Alphonse looked at the switches behind Ozzie. "Hey, doesn't this seem familiar?"

Edward grinned. "Yeah, let's try those switches! Alex, hit the left one!"

Alexander nodded, and summoned up his Lightning magic. Gold sparks rose up from his body, and a bolt of lightning crashed down onto the leftmost switch, clicking it downward.

Ozzie suddenly removed his barrier and laughed at them. "Mwaha!! Gotcha!" A trapdoor suddenly opened up under the six party members, and they all fell through. "Adios, amigos!"

They ended up falling through a chute that dumped them back in the middle of the floor in the previous room. Magus and Glenn were the only ones who landed with any grace. The rest of the party ended up in a heap next to them, with Alexander being crushed at the bottom of it.

Edward pushed Alphonse and Robo off and stood up, running toward the stairs again. "That rotten, sonofa...!"

The rest of the party followed suit, but Alexander simply laid down where he was, still in pain because of the weight that had been on him. _**Oh, good grief. I think we're gonna need the Life spells for this one, **_Joumae joked.

"_C-Curaga_," Alexander barely managed to choke out. A green light washed over him, and most of his wounds were healed. He stood up shakily, and hurried back up the stairs.

Alexander finally regrouped with the party, who were facing Ozzie once more. Edward had transmuted a covering for the pit that had been created by the open trapdoor, so they were fine for now. Ozzie snarled as they all faced him again, and he yelled, "**Never**! You will **never** defeat me!"

Everyone took fighting stances... but then they heard a high-pitched _meow_ come from the stairs. All of the fighters, including Ozzie, watched with curious expressions as an orange tabby cat walked into the room, moved right past Ozzie, jumped up... and struck the rightmost switch before walking away.

Ozzie quickly panicked. "N-No! Not **that** switch!" He let out a cry as a trapdoor appeared beneath himself, and he plummeted all the way from the top of the tower to the bottom. A resounding _thump _echoed up from the passage after a couple of moments, and then there was no more sound.

Magus sighed. "The past is dead. It was all just a dream..." He seemed to say that more to himself than anyone else.

Alexander let out a sigh of relief. "Two more sidequests down. Only two more to go."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	31. The Origin of Sentient Machines

Chapter 30  
The Origin of Sentient Machines

The party took a collective breath of relaxation as they left Ozzie's Fort, breathing in the fresh air and resting for a little while. Two sidequests in a row was mentally fatiguing at the very least.

Frog sheathed the Masamune and patted the handle. "It seems the blade hath indeed improved," he noted, impressed by its performance after it had been upgraded. Magus, on the other hand, was also rather pleased by the results of the quest. They'd collected a few items that the wizard definitely appreciated, like a brand-new sickle, cape, and helm.

At last, everyone was starting to see the benefits of these detours. That apparent appreciation made some of it worthwhile to Alexander. Seeing the fruits of his efforts in a positive way always made him feel good. But there wasn't more time to spend standing around, as there was two more sidequests to go.

"Frog, Magus, you guys go back to the End of Time," Alexander said as he summoned his Lockshield and prepared to open the portal. "Tell Lucca and Crono to come out here. Robo, you're staying with us."

Robo nodded slowly as Alexander started the process of switching the two party members. One of Gaspar's statements still remained in his memory banks: _"__There's a task to be done in the Future, where machinery originated."_ The origin of machines? Did Gaspar mean to say that he... had a birthplace?

"Hello, gentlemen!" Lucca said cheerfully as she stepped out of the portal Alex had created, with Crono close behind. "Looks like you need my genius yet again!"

Edward rolled his eyes. "...More like Alex needs some comfort yet again," he said very quietly, holding back a chuckle.

The statement was just within earshot of Alex, and he shot Edward an angry look before addressing the party as a whole. "This is the second to last sidequest, everyone. This time, we're going to the Future era."

Robo looked up, immediately intrigued. "Is this my quest, then?" he asked quickly, sounding rather hopeful.

"Uh, yeah..." Alex said slowly, taken aback by the question. He hadn't expected Robo to remember that after all this while... but, then again, he _was_ a robot, and the quest certainly had some deep significance to him.

Alphonse looked at all of them standing around, and said, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the Future!" Crono nodded vigorously at this, and it wasn't long before they all piled into the Epoch and set off.

* * *

Just south of Death Peak, there was Keeper's Dome. Off the coast to the east from Keeper's Dome, some distance away, there was a small island containing a rather large factory complex in the middle. The party parked the Epoch in front of the factory's gates, and saw the sign outside that read in faded letters, "Geno Dome." 

They entered a small room and looked around. Every section of the floor, walls, and passageways in the building was some combination of metal and wires. In this first room, there was simply a large computer terminal and a closed, vertically oblong hatch, with a red light to the side of the hatch to indicate its locked status.

Robo walked toward the terminal, and gave the space just under the monitor a couple of hard punches. **_Hmm, percussive maintenance..._** Joumae commented.

The terminal flickered to life a couple of moments after Robo's strikes, and a digital female voice spoke clearly into the room. _"Who enters here unbidden?"_ it demanded quickly. Then it paused, and said, _"Oh... Welcome home, R-66Y."_

Robo took a step back. Perhaps this was indeed, his birthplace...

_"Or,"_ the voice offered, _"should I say, _**_Prometheus_**_!? You _**_dare_**_ to defile this place with humans?"_ Then it paused for another moment, as if it was calming down. _"I haven't seen them in ages. Let me... _**_welcome_**_ them. Come closer..."_

The entrance door behind them quickly sealed shut, and the red light next to the hatch turned green as the doorway opened up. Edward sighed as he looked toward their only path at this point. "Well, I'll give somebody two guesses as to what that person's plans for us are."

"It's not a person," Robo corrected. He wasn't quite sure who it was yet... but he knew that the voice wasn't human. He said nothing more as he led the way onward through the hatch, leading everyone else along with him.

They found themselves standing in an extremely long hallway, in front of a conveyor belt that spanned the length of the hall. It was moving further into the factory. _"Let's see just what you can do..."_ the voice suggested with the faintest hint of malice.

With very little choice left to them, all six fighters stepped onto the conveyor belt, and they soon found themselves being carried through the hall. They passed two small, blue Bugger-like creatures. Debuggests. The two Debuggests jumped onto the conveyor belt right behind them and prepared for battle. Seeing this, the party did the same.

Alexander summoned the Crimson Catalyst and charged forward at one of the Debuggests, swinging with a wide berth. But the quick Debuggest jumped high over him to evade the attack, landing behind the Interference. However, Crono closed in with his Rainbow brandished, and cleaved through the machine with two strong slashes. The small robot faded away in red light.

Meanwhile, Alphonse struggled with the other Debuggest, holding two of its legs to keep it away as the robot tried to attack. While he had it busy, Lucca fired a powerful blast from the Wondershot, paralyzing the robot, and Robo closed in and gave it a heavy punch in the middle section, crushing it and dislocating the main body from its legs. It also faded away, and the party took a very small breather.

Very small. Two large, dark-armored drone robots, called Protos 4, dropped down from above and charged at them. Edward clapped his hands and placed them on one of the Protos 4. The Proto 4 was overcome by blue sparks as it was transmuted by Edward's alchemy. When the alchemic reaction ceased, Edward held several large shuriken in each of his hands. "Heh, these things are still scrap metal!" he remarked as he threw a few of the shuriken at the other Proto 4, slicing through it and destroying it.

As soon as that trial was cleared, four more Debuggests jumped into their midst. Following Edward's example, Alexander clapped his hands and ran toward one of the machines. Red sparks enveloped his hand as he charged. The Debuggest tried to dodge out of the way, but Alex was ready this time. As the robot jumped upward, Alex reached upward as well and smashed his hand against it. Alex's hand just about sliced through the machine, using Scar's technique to decompose its body.

Once Alex had done this, the other Debuggest beside him had prepared to get the jump on the busy Interference. Lucca saw this, took aim with the Wondershot, and shouted, "Watch out, Alex!" She fired a charged shot at the Debuggest, which had been aimed true. The robot was left with a fairly large scorch mark on its metal body. At this point, Alex swung around and transmuted the Debuggest... and then jumped away. He wasn't three feet away before the Debuggest's body turned black as it absorbed carbon and caused a fiery explosion. By then, the other four party members had taken care of the Debuggests on the other side.

But they weren't given any rest as even two more Debuggests appeared in front of them, and two Protos 4 landed behind them. Edward grinned and clapped his hands. "Looks like they don't know who they're dealing with," he said, as he transmuted an armblade from his automail wrist.

* * *

At last, after all of the battling that was before them, they reached the end of the conveyor belt. Just ahead of them was a closed doorway leading into the heart of the factory itself. _"Not bad..."_ the voice remarked,_"for humans. But can you find your way to me?"_

Robo led the way through the doorway, rather intrigued. They entered a long horizontal hallway, connecting to a labyrinthine series of halls, doors, machines, and many other things. His memory banks seemed to be recovering a little bit. The sight of every little detail brought more and more to the forefront of his systems.

Alexander _did_ remember the way to get to the mysterious voice's source, but it was at the end of a long series of sidetracking tasks. Edward wasn't pleased by this when Alex informed them. "What!? Why waste our time finding keys or whatnot? We can easily just break down any door with alchemy!"

Alex frowned. No matter what adventures, no matter what horrifying experiences he'd had to go through, he was still a gamer at heart. Alchemy would indeed make things easier. One **heck** of a lot easier. But to the gamer in him, it felt quite a bit like cheating. A part of him felt loyal to the puzzle he'd spent some time completing when it was merely a game.

Alphonse, however, was on his brother's side. "Yeah, there's not much point in wasting any time. The sooner we can get through this, the better."

"Alright, alright," Alex caved in with a sigh. "Follow me."

He led them to the right, down the hallway until they reached a larger square section of the room where the path turned to the left. There was a right next to the path onward. But there was also a Debuggest patrolling that area. As soon as it saw the party, it sparked in surprise and sent a signal that caused an alarm to start blaring. Two more Debuggests came from around the corner to assist in the capture of the intruders. As the party got into fighting positions, the siren slowly dwindled to nothing.

Alphonse jumped to the front of the group as the Debuggests made their charge all at once. All three spider-like robots jumped onto Alphonse, and tried to shock him through the armor. It was useless, really, but it also made them rather hard to hit without hitting Alphonse as well.

The younger Elric charged up his magical energy. A blue aura surrounded him, and the three Debuggests were suddenly repelled as a bubble of water spread out from Alphonse's armor and created a barrier, which soon disappeared. Crono, Robo, and Edward then rushed into the fray while the Debuggests were still computing what had happened. In a matter of seconds, the robots had been sliced and bashed to pieces.

The voice from before spoke once more out of nowhere: _"300 years ago, the Lavos disaster greatly changed the planet. At this rate, humans will die out from pure despair."_

Alexander scowled and led the party toward the door. The fighters entered the small room inside, which turned out to be a large elevator. As soon as everyone's weight was on the elevator, it carried them up to the second floor.

They came to a much wider hallway that turned sharply to the right after a short distance. But as soon as they took a couple of steps, another alarm started going off, and two small turrets called Laser Guards popped up from small circular holes in the floor on either side of them.

One of the turrets shot a yellow laser beam at Robo, who ducked under the beam and pointed his metal fist at it. The fist rocketed forward from his wrist and struck the Laser Guard with all of its momentum, and was then reeled back by a cord connecting Robo's hand to his arm. The Rocket Punch had left a fairly sizable dent in the Laser Guard. Edward then ran forward and slammed the boot of his automail leg onto the Laser Guard, crushing the object with its weight.

Lucca charged up a shot with her Wondershot and fired it at the other Laser Guard. The explosive concentration of the Sun Stone's energy met with the laser blast the turret was about to fire right in front of the turret's barrel. There was a fiery explosion, and the Laser Guard was no more when the smoke cleared.

_"Don't you understand?"_ the voice demanded above them demanded. _"This planet would be more peaceful if there were no humans around. And yet you still want to fight? Why?"_

"I hope that thing's the end boss here," Edward remarked once the voice disappeared. "If there's one thing that'll finish this quest off nicely, it'll be shutting off that voice."

_**Well, there's a rationale I haven't heard before!**_ Joumae shouted into Alex's mind, making Edward flinch as well. Still, they pressed onward and followed the right turn.

They were now in a large rectangular room. As soon as they were all within that space, they saw another robot on the other side of the room. It looked almost exactly like Robo, meaning that it was most likely another R-series robot. However, it had pink and blue armor, and there was a large teal ribbon near the side of its head.

"Welcome home, Prometheus," the robot spoke, its voice clearly female. It walked toward the party with an air about it that was both inviting and cold at the same time.

Robo was silent for a few moments. He searched his memory banks, and used the strange robot's appearance as a search criteria. At last, a match came up. "...Atropos...?"

The eyes of the robot, Atropos, blinked a couple of times. "Yes. It's been awhile, Prometheus. You can stop pretending now and join us."

Lucca looked toward Robo with a confused look. "Pretending?"

"Mwaha..." Atropos chuckled darkly. "Unlike the other R-series, Prometheus had a special task. To live with humans and _study_ them as a species..."

Alphonse assumed a fighting stance. "That's a lie!" he protested. Robo had helped them too many times for that to be true.

"Tell them, Prometheus..." Atropos commanded softly, still keeping her malicious air while still being familial with Robo.

Robo was silent. Could that really be the truth? The reason he'd ever existed, the reason he'd been "born," was to assist in the annihilation of the human race? That was what his kind seemed to be determined on... The experience at the factory north of Proto Dome had shown him just as much.

"Now step back, Prometheus," Atropos said, stepping forward once more. "We'll get rid of these humans, and go see Mother..."

Robo hesitated for a moment, and then stood to the side. Alexander quickly became wary as he watched Atropos come forward, looking at Robo from the corner of his eye. "Robo..."

Atropos was almost within striking distance... and then Robo lashed out, spinning around and punching Atropos back. There was a loud _cling_ sound as metal struck metal, and more similar sounds as the two robots repositioned themselves. "What are you doing, Prometheus?!" Atropos demanded somewhat angrily.

Robo had taken a firm stance between her and the party. "I won't allow you to hurt them!" he stated with conviction.

Atropos's eyes blinked a couple of times. After a moment of analysis, she stated, "...You are indeed defective. They have tampered with you. I'll destroy them, then fix you."

Robo shook his head. Something was different about Atropos's programming. Perhaps the priorities were different. "Atropos, you've... changed," he finally said with some slight reservation.

"Indeed," Atropos said, a bit of evil mirth in her voice. "Mother remade me to eliminate humans more efficiently!" Firm this time, she ordered, "Step back, Prometheus!"

"My name is Robo," Robo contested calmly.

"Prometheus!!" Atropos insisted. She suddenly lashed out, striking Robo with her own fist and sending him sprawling backwards. Panicking, the party took fighting stances and prepared to fight.

Robo, however, quickly recovered and ran inbetween them and Atropos. "Wait!" he advised. "Stand back and leave this to me." This directive was taken with a bit of worry, but they all ran back to the previous hallway to watch. Robo then turned toward Atropos and readied himself. "Atropos...!"

Atropos took a fighting stance of her own. "Prometheus!!" She dashed forward, bringing her fist back for another powerful strike. Robo quickly analyzed his counterattack and executed his final decision. As she threw the punch, Robo parried the blow by knocking it away with his left forearm, and then followed up with a strong punch of his own.

Atropos stumbled back for a moment, but then charged in less time than it would've taken a human to recover. Once again a punch was thrown, and this time Robo grabbed Atropos's arm and stepped to the side, using her significant momentum to throw her to the ground.

But the robot used her hands to brace her fall and manage to use the rebound momentum to throw herself into the air again, flip forward and land back onto her feet. Atropos then whipped around and sent her fist flying toward Robo, using her Rocket Punch. Robo tried to brace himself for it, but the Rocket Punch broke past his guard and struck him in the face, sending him staggering backward. While he was thrown off balance, Atropos quickly used her Cure Beam to restore some of her integrity.

Robo recovered at last, and threw his own Rocket Punch at Atropos just as she finished up with her Cure Beam. Atropos was struck by the attack, but not enough to send her reeling for very long. Along her body, some of the plates of her armor opened up to reveal laser guns. Robo quickly calculated the apparent trajectories and paths of the incoming attacks, which was a fairly hard task for a human.

Atropos began to fire her Laser Spin attack, spinning around to send the laser beams fired from her body in all directions. Using the sparse data he'd been able to gather, he was able to try his best and jumping over some of the beams and ducking under others. He still was scorched the lasers a couple of times, but not nearly as much as he would've been if he had merely stood around.

When Atropos was just about finished, Robo opened up his armor and began using his own Laser Spin. Since it was quickly after Atropos's, the other robot wasn't so successful in avoiding the attacks. But, seeing that it wasn't so much of an option, Atropos seemed to opt for a different tactic. She charged forward, braving through the lasers scorching her, and tackled the unsuspecting Robo. Robo, with the momentum of the strike, was knocked back so far that he slammed into one corner of the room.

Robo closed up his lasers and charged up his Heal Beam. Instead of a single healing beam like Cure Beam, he charged up the healing energy within himself and started spinning, spreading it all over the room with blue aura waves. It didn't heal Atropos of course, and there weren't any allies around to be healed. But Robo had found the Heal Beam to be somewhat more potent by a mostly insignificant, but still quantitative, percentage.

Atropos rushed forward once more and started a series of rapid-fire punches aimed at Robo, which was their Uzzi Punch technique. Knowing that there wasn't much chance in blocking it, Robo simply jumped back as Atropos started punching, and dashed forward to tackle Atropos in the middle of her own attack. As Atropos stumbled back, Robo launched his own Uzzi Punch that rammed home. Atropos was thrown back across the room, but she was still back up in a few moments.

"Hahahaha..." Atropos chuckled darkly, "_Area Bomb_!" She charged up explosive energy within her armor, and then let it out with incredible force, enveloping her an a small inferno. Robo was thrown back by the heat and force of the explosion, and his survival protocol immediately began to warn him of his critical integrity level. Of course, a quick scan showed that Atropos was in not much better shape herself.

One large attack would end it right here and now. And Robo made sure he was the one to pull it off. He spread his feet apart and opened up a large section of his armor, revealing the electric core at the very center of his body. The electricity began to violently pour out into the rest of the room, pooling around Atropos and damaging her greatly. After a few moments of this, Robo closed up his core, and the room returned to normal.

"I... I am..." Atropos stuttered. A couple of internal explosions blew out her systems from within, and she suddenly collapsed to the ground. Alex, Crono, Lucca, Edward, and Alphonse quickly ran into the room.

"Robo! Are you alright?" Alphonse asked worriedly. It had been an impressive match, but they couldn't help but worry about his health. They all looked toward Atropos, who seemed to be coming around.

Atropos couldn't bring herself to sit up fully, but she looked toward Robo. "P...Prometheus...?" she managed to say, her voice crackling like static. "It's been... ages...!"

"Atropos...?" Robo mumbled, suddenly unaware of what had happened to her.

"I'm damaged?" Atropos remarked, suddenly confused. "What happened?"

In a flash, it dawned on Robo as to what had happened. He ran over to her as quickly as he could and knelt by her side. "Atropos!!" he exclaimed, his voice mixed with joy and sadness.

Atropos was silent for a moment. "My memory bank... Mother must have done something nasty when she reprogrammed me..."

Lucca ran toward Atropos and knelt down on the other side of Atropos, and Alex followed her over. Procuring a couple of mechanic tools from her belt, she hastily got to work in trying to repair Atropos. Though the damage was severe.

"Partial memory... restored..." Atropos said slowly, her voice fading in and out again. "I'm sorry... Prometheus..."

The robot tried to get up, but Lucca firmly said, "Save your strength! I'll patch you up."

Atropos tried to shake her head, but her motions began to slow to a stop. "It isn't possi...ble... Vital functions are do...wn... M...memory bank damaged..."

It was hard to see emotions in a robot, but the sadness in Robo was clear to see. "Atropos...!"

Atropos managed to shake her head just a little bit, and the ribbon on her head fell loose, falling to the cold floor beside her. "This... is for you... You can... plug this... into your circuits... Please... take care... of it... Good...bye... Prometheus..."

And, with that, the lights behind Atropos's eyes went out as she deactivated for good. Robo simply sat there for what seemed like an eternity, trying to find light in those orbs again. Finally, he looked toward the ribbon, which had fallen onto its front. Surprisingly enough, there was a small computer chip sewn onto the back of the ribbon.

Robo freed the chip from the ribbon, opened up his midsection, and inserted the chip into a small slot near his core. As he loaded the programs into his circuits, he found himself feeling more remorse for this last boon Atropos had granted him. The upgrades increased his processing speed by a small amount, as well as the speed at which his armor's systems treated elemental damage. In Alex's gaming terms, Robo's Speed and Magic Defense had increased.

Alexander sighed and knelt down, pushing up the motionless form of Atropos until she was sitting up. He then dragged her over to the wall and laid her against it, letting her rest there in peace. It was the best they could give her in this bleak future, in this given time.

* * *

Exiting that room, they found themselves on a long walkway that overlooked an abyss of factory machinery on both sides. It was apparently the path to the control room. As they reached one of the turns of the walkway, the voice addressed them once more. 

_"Listen well, humans. Lavos's children will one day have to leave to seek new planets, and prey. This world __**could**__ sustain them... if humans were not around. We robots will create a new order... A nation of steel, and pure logic. A true paradise! Our 'Species' will replace you... So stop your foolish struggle, and succumb to the sleep of eternity..."_

"Bullcrap," Edward cursed. "We've come here to save the world, no matter what. And I, personally, don't plan on dying until Al and I get our bodies back." He looked toward the path ahead with determination. "We swore that. The skills and experiences we've gained and had in this world will help us in that, no doubt."

They rounded the final corner and entered the long stretch toward the control room. An alarm sounded off, and six Laser Guards rose up around them. Each of the six fighters approached one of the Laser Guards. Crono sliced through his with the sharp Rainbow sword, Lucca blasted hers with the Wondershot, Robo and Alphonse crushed theirs with strong blows, Edward transmuted his into oblivion, and Alex sliced his with the extended blade of the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield.

_"Elaeus's Heartless also fit into this,"_ the voice argued. _"Soon there will be no more human hearts for them to consume. In their natural hunger for hearts, they will leave this world once it is barren. The number of Heartless had increased exponentially in the last 300 years, simply because the Heartless have been wiping out any humans left on the planet. They will invade the other worlds, and the galaxy will be lost... unless, of course, a world order devoid of hearts can control them."_

Alexander scowled. This entity truly did not completely understand the Heartlesss. But there was a point made. If Elaeus managed to bring all the Heartless of this time back into the other game universes, maybe even Sora and the others would be powerless. It was incredibly fortunate, then, that the Dark Corridors had been sealed. The Heartless had nowhere to go except here at the moment.

They suddenly found themselves in front of a large, thick gate that barred their passage. Edward raised an eyebrow. "Okay... what do we do here?"

Crono rolled his eyes. Lucca chuckled and said, "What do you think? You didn't want to do the puzzle, so what do were you planning on instead?"

"Oh!" Edward said, trying not to sound embarrassed. Smirking, he approached the large gate, clapped his hands, and placed them on both sides of the solid gate. Slowly, the gate began to open wide for them, providing them passage into the control room.

Finally, they were there. It was another large, rectangular room, with a large light panel in the center of the room, and three monitors in the back. The three monitors suddenly flickered to life, and light shone up from the panel on the floor in the center of the room. All of the new light triangulated in several places, and a solid, three-dimensional image was formed of some kind of long-haired woman wearing a cloak. The entire image glowed with flowing rainbow colors.

The image looked down on Robo, then toward the rest of the group. "You did well to come this far," it said, revealing itself to be the voice from before.

Edward grinned. "I _so_ called that one."

"I am the Mother Brain of the R-Y series factory," the image continued. Looking directly at Robo again, the Mother Brain stated, "Come, Prometheus, you must once again join us. I'll reset your circuitry and erase your memories. Then we'll dispose of these filthy humans."

Robo was silent for only a single moment. "I'm sorry, but... I can't afford to lose anything else..." he said, remembering Atropos quite vividly. "Not my precious memories, nor my irreplaceable friends."

"You would betray **me**," the Mother Brain demanded incredulously, "to stay with these humans? You would turn against the family of robots?"

"Humans have taught me much," Robo stated simply. "Crono, Lucca, Marle, Glenn, Ayla, Edward, Alphonse, and Alexander... I will not betray my friends."

The Mother Brain's image betrayed confusion at this, but then it gave way to amusement. "Oho...! Fuhuhu... This is **rich**! Don't make me laugh! **You**... have emotions!? I'll show you just how '_human_' you've become!"

Crono rushed forward, his sword already drawn. He sliced at the Mother Brain image as he passed by, leaving a large, black, empty cut in the image. One of the displays in the back of the room suddenly shone brighter, creating a beam of energy that flashed onto the hole in the image that Crono had created. When the light vanished, the hole had been covered up.

"The displays are healing her! Destroy them!" Alexander shouted, switching his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal and holding it up to deflect a laser attack from the Mother Brain.

"Fine by me!" Edward shouted back, clapping his hands. He ran past the Mother Brain and placed his hands on the ground. All along the back wall, blue sparks shot out of the transmutation taking place. Stonespikes all in a row rose up from the ground and impaled the wall, right where the monitors' machinery was. All three monitors flickered for a moment, and then failed.

The Mother Brain, panicking without her displays to heal her, let loose four continuous lasers that spun around at random, not unlike Robo's Laser Spin. With the random nature of the attacks, everyone but Robo sustained damage in the attack.

Alphonse summoned up his magic and shouted, "_Heal_!" A blue aura washed over the party, healing the damage.

Crono motioned for Robo to join him, and he began to summon his Lightning magic. Seeing the idea he had, Robo took a stance on the other side of the Mother Brain and opened up his armor to reveal his core. Robo's Shock attack and Crono's Lightning 2 collided in the center of the room, creating a general electrical field in the whole place that was amplified by sweeping waves of lightning.

With all of the extra electrical energy in the room at that point, the Mother Brain's image was severely distorted by the chaotic power. The image began to fade and flicker. Alexander grinned and held up the Heartless Seal. "Would I be correct in saying that a powerful magnet can wipe all the data from a machine of this sort?"

Robo nodded. The Mother Brain tried to protest, but its voice was halted often by static. "P...Pro...me...theus... W...Why...?"

"_Magnega_!" Alexander shouted. A large orb of magnetic energy appeared in the center of the room. The Mother Brain let out a static scream as her image was twisted so far until it became nonexistent, and her entire program was erased from the Dome's system.

Something dropped from where the Mother Brain's manifestation had been. Robo walked over to them and picked them up. They looked quite like armored gauntlets. Getting an idea, he simply peeled the armor off of his own hands, revealing the internal steel skeleton. Robo quickly found out that the two gauntlets fit him quite perfectly, one on each hand. New weapons for him, called the Terra Arm and the Crisis Arm.

Robo looked toward the blank monitors, and took a silent note of the lack of ambient mechanical noise in the entire Dome. "All the machines in the factory have been shut off for good," he said finally.

Lucca looked at Robo worriedly. The robot had been through a lot of stress lately. This development meant the last he would ever see of his own kind. He'd been forced to take a hand in their destruction. Would he be alright after all of this? "Robo..."

After a tense moment, Robo quickly turned around and gave all of them a relatively cheerful look, his eyes bright and his movement energetic. "Let's go!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	32. Life, Given Time

Chapter 31  
Life, Given Time

Outside of Geno Dome, the party contemplated their next move. Things were moving on very well, and they were coming to the end of their series of sidequests. This, of course, made Edward particularly excited. "Finally! We're close to finishing all these detours!"

There was one sidequest left, and Alex was forced to decide who he wanted to bring along. After giving it some thought, he decided, "Robo, you stay with us. Lucca, Crono, you guys go back to the End of Time, and tell Marle and Ayla to come out here."

Using the space between the parked Epoch and Geno Dome as a shelter, Alex sent Lucca and Crono back to the End of Time to wait, while Marle and Ayla came back out. The two girls were particularly excited to be back in action. "Ayla ready!" the cavegirl replied, once her memories had been updated.

"Sweet! One more quest left!" Marle exclaimed, carrying the new Siren in her hands. She looked anxious to put it to use.

Alexander nodded. "Well, let's get to work. Our next stop is the Middle Ages, 600 AD."

* * *

There was a lengthy desert between the Dorino and Porre villages. Right in the middle of that desert, there was a small villa with a few sparse trees around it. Alphonse took the lead as they climbed the steps of the villa, and he knocked on the door. A blond young woman opened the door tentatively, and flinched a little at the sight of Alphonse. 

The younger Elric held up his hands in a diplomatic manner and said, "Woah, I don't mean any harm. We were just... crossing the desert, and we wanted to make a stop here."

Almost immediately, some of the tension was relieved. Apparently, this person had taken this kind of request before. The woman glanced past Alphonse, seeing the rest of the party behind him, and smiled. "Alright, it's fine." Looking back toward the inside of the villa, she shouted, "Marco! We have visitors!"

"Is that so?" a man's voice replied, rounding the corner of the hallway. A redheaded man appeared and regarded the party with confusion, but then nodded and stepped back to allow passage. "Well, welcome to our villa, travelers. I'm Marco."

The woman opened up the door fully. "And I'm Fiona."

"Thank you, ma'am," Alphonse thanked her as he ducked to get through the door. The rest of the group smiled at them, giving the couple their thanks, as they all piled into the hallway and entered the small living room inside.

There was a small table, and everyone took a seat there. Alexander noted the presence of a small pouch of soil with a sapling growing out of it. Robo had taken particular interest as well.

"So what brings you all out here?" Marco asked curiously.

Alexander thought up something quickly. "Nothing, really. We were on our way to Porre to stop by the café there, but we noticed this place out in the middle of the desert."

Marle caught his drift. "To be honest, we were kind of curious why there's a residence in the middle of nowhere like this."

Edward grinned as he picked up the fib. "**She** kept _pestering_ us to go on and investigate, and eventually we caved in." Marle glowered at him as he finished up.

Fiona let out a small giggle at the teasing. "Well, that's not unusual. We often get many travelers, usually adventurers, coming here and wondering what we're doing here."

Marco shrugged. "Haven't hosted a group so large in number, before."

Fiona took the spare seat at the table, right in front of the sapling on the tabletop. "It is just a large desert right now; I know that. But I want that to change." She sighed, picking up the sapling. "I want to raise a forest from the dust here. There was once a lush forest here, but the monsters devoured it. I may not live to see it, but I want there to be a forest here for our descendants, rather than just a barren desert."

Ayla looked back toward the door. "That why there trees here?"

Marco sighed, ignoring the bad grammar. "We've been trying. So far, we've successfully managed to plant and grow... three trees. A far cry from a future forest, I'm afraid. Of course," he added, smiling at Fiona, "when I say**we**, I mean my darling Fiona. It's her determination that is pushing this job forward."

Blushing deeply enough that Joumae's mental grin came into Alex's mind, Fiona went on and said, "Well, it's a start, at least. But there are monsters underneath the ground here, draining all the life out of the soil here. It's merely providence's decree that we even got that far." Holding up the sapling, she said, "This Mystic seedling could revive the forest, but I can't plant it. Too many hungry monsters lurking about."

Robo almost jumped in his seat. That was why the seedling looked familiar! It was Mystic. In fact, it seemed to be the same magical sapling that a certain Enlightened woman of Zeal had possessed, whom Crono had convinced to hide it and protect it until it could be used.

This wasn't exactly the kind of thought running through Edward's mind, though. "Monsters, huh?" the Fullmetal Alchemist said with a grin.

"There's a cave in the desert not too far from here," Marco said, "made from sunken sand. It's where the burrowing monsters usually meet up. The monsters in the desert cave hate water." With a shrug, he added, "But I can't defeat them by myself."

Marle and Alphonse exchanged a look. A few more particular magic users would've taken further advantage of this information, but they would probably do just fine on their own.

Alexander looked at his companions, seeing the realizations dawning on them. This was obviously the objective of this sidequest: To destroy the desert monsters to aid Fiona in reviving the forest. Standing up from his seat, he said, "Well, tell you what. We don't have anything else to do, anyway, so how about we give it a shot?"

Fiona and Marco almost jumped at this. "R-Really?" Fiona asked incredulously. "All of you will try to destroy them!?"

Robo stood up, and the others soon followed suit. "We've have a fair bit of experience, madam Fiona. I have confidence that we will be able to rid the desert of most of these creatures."

The couple exchanged a discursive look. Marco simply shrugged, and Fiona nodded at the party. "I would be eternally grateful if you did so," she stated warmly. "I wish you the best of luck."

"You'll need it," Marco grumbled.

* * *

Directly southwest of the villa was a large whirlpool of sand, swirling around aimlessly but toward a central common point at the same time. The party walked toward the center of the whirlpool, and were suddenly sucked under. 

They fell down into the corner of a large cave, with more sand swirling beneath them. Alexander shook himself and brushed off the sand from his sleeves, and said, "The boss of this place is one level below us. That'll do the trick right there."

"Then let's get started," Edward replied. He took a step forward, but found the sand carrying him in different directions, usually not the one he wanted to go in. Almost every two feet forward, there was a shift in the flow of the sand. "Dammit! Let's just run!"

As soon as he said that, there were sounds of movement in the large cave. Large insect-like creatures (not unlike Sir Krawlie from the sewer access in the Future) called Hexapods began to approach them, and spiky fins popping out of the fluid sand (the telltale sign of Mohavors) signaled the arrival of more monsters.

"I'm not interested in spending much time here," Edward muttered. He looked toward his brother. "Al!"

"Way ahead of you!" Alphonse replied, already summoning his magical energy. "_Water 2_!" A blue aura filled the cave, and a torrent of water crashed through the area, washing over the sand and crashing into the Hexapods. Almost immediately, the sand underneath their feet began to harden, slowing down their approach and weakening the natural resistance that the sand arena inherently offered.

"This more like it!" Ayla exclaimed. She ran toward Robo and jumped up, landing on Robo's arms. The robot gave Ayla a horizontal boost, propelling her heel-first into one of the Hexapods, knocking it back with incredible force. Meanwhile, Edward and Alexander were hard at work with alchemy, transmuting a number of stone projectiles from the hardened sand to impale the enemies. Marle summoned up her Ice magic and cast Ice 2, furthering the effect of weakening the monsters. In short order, the monsters had been defeated.

"Let's start making things a little simpler here," Edward growled. He clapped his hands and placed them on the wet sand. Blue sparks raced throughout the entire cave, and solid stone floor began to sprout from where Edward's hand touched the ground. In little time at all, the entire floor was covered in solid stone.

_**Neat,**_ Joumae admitted. **_That not only reduces the complications in moving, but..._**

"This'll keep the rest of the monsters sealed beneath our feet," Edward cut in, sounding to everyone else like he was just stating it out of the blue. "We shouldn't have much more trouble in this particular area."

The party moved toward the back end of the cave, where there was a narrow passageway leading deeper into the sunken desert cavern. The group walked down the path and ended up on a lower floor of cave, standing on a small stone platform overlooking a large room. There was another stone "island" in the center of the room, but the rest of the place was swirling sand.

As they stepped onto the sand, there were vibrations under their feet for a moment. "What was that?" Marle immediately asked once the vibrations halted.

The vibrations turned into tremors, and something rose up from the sand to their left. Four large bones rose up from the ground along with an eyeball core, and sank back down into the ground.

Alexander flinched at the ghastly sight. "Well, looks like that's our boss!"

Ayla gasped. "They make forest into desert!"

Alphonse rubbed the back of his helmet. "Looks like he's just burrowing around and popping up randomly, hiding from us. How are we supposed to catch it?"

Edward grinned. "Simple. Alex, once we see him pop up again, we'll transmute the sand to trap him in one place. Got it?"

Alexander smirked at the plan and brandished the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield. "Boy, alchemy has sure made this adventure a lot simpler."

"It's all about improvisation," Edward remarked back, and began to concentrate on the tremors beneath them.

There was another large vibration as the creature arose, but the two fighters couldn't quite see it; it was probably on the other side of the stone "island." So they waited. At last, the creature arose to the south of their position, and they began their work. Alexander transmuted the sand of the room, hardening it to stone to trap the half-submerged beast.

Edward then made a second transmutation, shifting the ground right under the beast to shove it out of the ground in an explosion of stone. Many bones and pieces of bone were thrown up into the air, along with what looked like a giant eyeball core. The bones clattered to the ground, and the party tentatively approached.

Suddenly, a bright glow surrounded the pile of bones. They rose up from the ground, connecting together and making a shape. A large torso, along with a demonic-looking skull, was formed at the top. The core took the place of the pelvis, and large bony legs were formed at the bottom half. It looked significantly like Zombor from the battle at Zenan Bridge.

"Retinite!" Alexander exclaimed, naming the beast from what he remembered from the game. He knew this boss was particularly tricky to take down, but... with Edward's example lately, he felt somewhat obliged to improvise a little. But that wasn't to mean that he was just going to charge in blindly. "Everyone," he ordered, "take out the core first!"

Robo pointed his fist at the beast and used his Rocket Punch. The metal fist ejected from his arm and pummeled the core at a decent force. As Robo retracted his arm, Marle took a shot with the Siren, and Ayla used her Triple Kick technique to pound it as well. The core was surprisingly weak for a boss; it faded away in a red aura after all of those attacks. The top and bottom halves were left intact, but now they couldn't use the core's energy to heal themselves.

Now Alex's plan came into action. He ran up to the stone platform in the center of the room, and got a running start toward the Retinite. He jumped off, and clapped his hands in midair. Red sparks began to issue forth after the soundwave rang out. Alex extended his hand to decompose the Retinite... but as his hand touched the bony surface of the monster, his hand was repelled by a magical force, and the transmutation reaction ceased immediately.

As Alexander landed, the Retinite let out an extremely high-frequency screech, stunning nearly all of the party members with its intense sound. Alexander growled and fell to one knee, covering his ears until the attack ceased. He then looked up at the monster and wondered what went wrong. Was the Retinite's sand-based defensive abilities capable of repelling a decomposition transmutation? That seemed to be the most likely case...

"Ice and Water magics, now!" Alexander barked, holding up the Crimson Catalyst again. Marle obliged immediately, but Alphonse took a little longer to respond. Because he was a hollow suit of armor, the sonic attack had carried a lasting effect. Still, Alphonse finally managed to recover and pull together his magics once again. They put together a large ice crystal within a complete sphere of water, and then burst it to create a wave of Ice Water that crashed into the Retinite. Almost immediately, the luster of the bones making up the Retinite's body began to fade, as its defense decreased.

Alex grinned. "Al! Give me a boost!"

"Coming!" Alphonse replied, running over to Alexander. Alphonse laid his hands down palms-up, and Alex jumped onto them. The younger Elric then propelled Alexander high into the air, and the Interference clapped his hands to create the alchemic technique once more. Alexander came straight down on the Retinite, his right hand almost concealed in red sparks.

The Interference's hand crashed onto the center point of the Retinite's skull... and kept going, shearing through the monster and tearing it in half on his way down, the red sparks decomposing whatever it touched. Soon, Alexander had landed on the ground, and the entire creature had been cleaved into twain.

There were several bright flashes of light, large tremors of the earth, and a high-pitched death cry as the Retinite slowly faded into nothingness. The main monster of the desert had been defeated. Marle put away the Siren and cheered. "At least Fiona will be happy now!"

Edward nodded. "And with their boss gone, the rest of the monsters' coordination will simply disappear. I say our work here is done."

* * *

"Y-You _what_!?" Fiona exclaimed almost incredulously, hardly believing the news she was hearing. 

Marle smirked. "One monster-free field is all ready for you, Fiona! You can plant that seedling without any worries, now! You can finally work on that forest!"

Fiona looked almost on the verge of tears. Giving them a deep bow, she said, "Thank you for routing the beasts!" Looking back toward the sapling, she added with a hint of regret, "Unfortunately, it'll take centuries to revive the forest. I wish I could live long enough to see my wish come true!"

Robo actually walked over to Fiona and stood beside her. As everyone regarded him with confusion, he said, "You can come for me when the job is done. May I stay behind and help Fiona?"

"What!?" Edward exclaimed, taken aback by this request. Of course, the reasoning was sound when one thought about it. Robo was a robot, so he could oversee the planting of the forest over the course of 400 years. And they could simply jump to the Present and pick him up there. But was he really up for it?

The look in the artificial eyes seemed to confirm it. Alexander nodded, and replied, "Alright."

Fiona smiled again. "You've done more than I could ever hope for. Robo, I'm sure you'll be a tremendous help in reviving this forest. How can I ever repay you all?"

Alphonse shrugged. "We'll be fine. Good deeds have their way of giving out their rewards over time. Right, guys?" His older brother smirked at him as he said this.

* * *

The Epoch finally slowed to a stop as they traveled to the Present era of their world, right above where Fiona's villa had been 400 years previously. As they hovered above the continent now, they were absolutely amazed by what they saw. Stretching all across the continent, with only a road parting the phenomenon, there was a gigantic forest. A large group of green trees that simply covered up all of the land. 

But right in the middle of the large forest, there was a small cathedral. The party parked the Epoch down in front of the cathedral and went inside. Marle was especially intrigued by the remarkable change; being the daughter of the sovereign, she knew all too well how this continent's geography had been before this mighty change.

The cathedral was humble compared to others they'd seen. It was more of a shrine than a cathedral. A nun standing in the pews looked to them as they entered the building. She stepped out onto the blue carpet leading forward and welcomed them. "This is Fiona's Shrine," she stated with reverence. "Here we give thanks to Fiona and Robo replanting the forest 400 years ago!"

Another nun pointed toward the back of the hall. "The remains of the lofty Robo are enshrined in the inner sanctum."

Without any further ado, the party walked through the small chapel until they came to the sanctum. There was a small, round platform in the very back, and a window high above allowed a strangely holy-looking light to shine down on the object piled onto the platform. It was definitely Robo, but 400 years had taken a toll. There was soil, vines, leaves, and fallen parts all around him. Undergrowth had probably gotten into his systems.

_**Wow. Some-odd 300 years of being enshrined by these people. And he's a robot from the future. What a weird world.**_

Still, Alexander did his best to pull the still-heavy robot off the platform and onto the floor, near the rest of them. As he did so, the movement seemed to start some kind of system within Robo's body, because he felt vibrations under the soiled armor.

There were a few moments as the party watched patiently for any motion. Finally, the dull bulbs behind his eyes brightened up, and he slowly began to move. "Systems reactivated," Robo stated in a monotone, his voice crackling with static. "Wh-Where am I?"

As the nuns near the entrance to the hall were overcome with mixed panic and delight, Robo looked around at the party, his rusty gaze finally settling on the Interference. "Ahh... Alexander, how nice to see you. For you, it was a quick hop, but for me... 400 long years have passed." The robot slowly tried to stand up as he continued speaking, "The effort was worth it! The forest has grown back!"

There was mirth in his voice, and even the static couldn't mask the robot's emotions. "Now, let us celebrate our 400th year anniversary."

* * *

After some quick polling among the party, they finally decided to celebrate Robo's prompt return by spending the night in the forest, good old campfire style. Marle was the one who had suggested the idea. "I've never gone camping before!" she'd exclaimed excitedly at the time. "Guardia Forest always has some monsters in it, so Daddy never let me go camping there. But now we have this nice, peaceful forest to camp in! Let's take advantage of it!" 

And so they did, and Alexander even personally made the effort of bringing all of the party members from the End of Time to the Present, using the Epoch on multiple trips. So, strangely enough, all ten fighters found themselves gathered around a campfire in the middle of the woods. Alexander, Edward, Alphonse, Crono, Lucca, Marle, Glenn, Robo, Ayla, and Magus. All ten of them. And the strange thing was that this was the first time they had ever had this opportunity. For the entire adventure, they'd never been together as one group until now.

Night had finally fallen. Crono was laying on his side, already beginning to snooze. Marle was laying on her stomach toward the fire, trying to get as much heat as possible within reason. Glenn had taken a seat, and had unequipped most of his heavy armor to grant himself a breather. Robo was sitting down, parts left open as Lucca repaired him. Ayla was sitting cross-legged on a rock nearby. Magus was leaning against the thick bark of a nearby tree, somewhat detached from the group.

The Elric brothers were sitting together. Edward had already laid down as well, and Alphonse was sitting near him. Alexander was laying on his back, looking up at the stars. Living in the city as he did, he never really got to see the stars like he was able to here. And yet, even though this was a different world, the stars in the night sky seemed quite similar to the ones he was able to see at home on good nights. Not that he was an astrologist by any means. Stars were stars to him. And plenty of stars were plenty of stars.

Finally, Robo managed to bring up a topic of discussion. "After 400 years of experience," he stated suddenly as Lucca cleaned out his internal systems, "I have come to think that Lavos and Elaeus may not be responsible for the Gates."

Marle looked up from the fire, propping herself up on her elbows. "What do you mean?" she inquired. Everyone else's attention was caught as well. It had been generally assumed that Lavos and Elaeus's powerful effect on the world had created the time rifts called the Gates.

"I have come to think," Robo replied, "that someone – or something – wanted us to see all this. The different events over time that we have witnessed... It is almost as if some entity wanted to relive its past."

There was some contemplation from everyone as they pondered this theory. Then Ayla jumped up with an idea. "Ayla know! When people die, elders say, see whole life pass by!"

A general wave of agreement settled on the group as Ayla sat back down. Glenn grunted approvingly. "'Tis true that mortals do relive their most profound memories before death claimeth them. Yet those memories are most often sad ones."

Alexander sighed, continuing to look at the stars. "You're telling me. I'm not going to say that my whole life flashed before my eyes, but I did get to thinking about some mistakes I made. Y'know, thinking things like, 'If only I'd done this,' or, 'I shouldn't have done that...' triggered unpleasant, old memories."

Alphonse looked around at the group. "Will that happen when our times comes?" he wondered aloud.

Lucca shrugged. "Probably... who knows?"

Marle looked toward the mechanic girl curiously. "Is there a point in time you'd want to return to, Lucca?" she asked nonchalantly.

At this, Lucca suddenly paused in her work, and then looked toward the ground. "No... not really..."

"I'm sorry," Marle quickly said, feeling that she'd accidentally struck some sort of nerve, "was that something I shouldn't have asked?"

Lucca shook her head. "It's okay, it's just something I don't like to think about too much." She continued to get to work.

Glenn stood up and took a couple of paces thoughtfully. "Lavos and Elaeus playeth an integral role in the fortunes of this Entity..."

"...so who is this Entity?" Magus spoke to finish off Glenn's thought. The knight nodded at him.

Robo took the floor again. "It is unknown, whose memories these are. It may be something beyond our comprehension."

Edward, having had enough of this conversation, rolled onto his back and sat up. "Oh, I don't know about that. There seems to be a running theme, if you ask me."

Even Alexander was broken out of his concentration by this statement. "Really?" he asked curiously. "How so?"

The Fullmetal Alchemist looked toward Alex and replied, "Well, the time periods we've been forced to go to have great importance in the history of the planet. Think about it. The Prehistoric era: Lavos and Elaeus enter the world's core. The Dark Ages: the Kingdom of Zeal summons them and uses their energy, encouraging their power. The Middle Ages: a certain wizard tries to summon the two of them."

Magus grunted at this.

Edward grinned and went onward. "Then there's the Present era right here. It's the Millenial Fair over these several days, right? And it's when Lucca invents her little teleportation device that is perfect for creating a time-warp phenomenon."

Lucca said nothing.

"Of course," Edward went on, "there the Apocalypse, where Lavos and Elaeus destroy the world. And then there's the Future era, where we've found the Sun Stone, robots, the Epoch, and any number of last-ditch efforts and circumstances that the fate of the world made for us to take advantage of."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "The fate of the world made for us?" he echoed.

"Think about it," Edward insisted. "The world is dying. If it were a living being, it would look back on the mistakes that led up to its destruction, right? So what if this Entity is actually the world as a whole, living being? Better yet, in keeping with the whole Kingdom Hearts theme that Alex has connected to our worlds, what if the Entity is actually the _heart_ of this world?"

There was a long, stunned silence in the camp. Then slowly, but surely, people began to see the merit of Edward's explanation. It made a fair bit of sense, and Alexander was astonished that he hadn't thought of it. The heart of the world, flashing back to the critical moments of its life as it approaches its imminent death. In the Kingdom Hearts universe, the worlds were quite capable of doing and being such things.

"A running theme," Alphonse admitted. "Though weren't our game developed by more or less the same group? So wouldn't that theme run through anyway?"

"Hardly," Alexander replied. "Chrono Trigger was made long, long before the Kingdom Hearts or Fullmetal Alchemist series. So they wouldn't have a truth like this running for so long before the pure concept. ...Perhaps the guys behind Kingdom Hearts were really onto something when they thought up its concepts."

"Yeah, maybe," Alphonse said with a nod. "There's... something else I've been thinking about as well."

Edward's turn to be surprised had now come. "Really? What's that, Al?"

"Well..." Alphonse began, sounding hesitant to speak of it, "it's about the Philosopher's Stone. And about alchemy in general, really. I've been thinking... the master of these apprentices we're fighting... Ansem, you called him... what was he studying?"

Alex blinked. "The heart, of course. His and his apprentices studies brought the Heartless into being. ...Of course, none of them seem to have really figured it out, though."

"That's what I supposed," Alphonse said. "No one in Amestris has ever really considered the metaphysical heart. But when you add it in, it kinda makes sense. The reason why human transmutation is taboo, why bringing the dead back to life can't be done..."

Edward sighed and lowered his head. "...is because no one can recreate the heart. The body's pretty easy; we had that part down." He pulled out a small notebook from his jacket's inner pocket and began to read from the middle of the book. "35 liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia, a kilo and a half of calcium oxide, 800 grams of phosphorus, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of potassium nitrate, 80 grams of sulfur, 7.5 grams of fluorine, 5 grams of iron, 3 grams of silicon, and smaller portions of 15 other elements."

Even Lucca had stopped her repairs to listen in on this. Marle blinked. "What's that list of?

Robo answered as the Fullmetal Alchemist put the notebook away. "The elements required to make an average adult human body. You say you had all of that there?"

Alphonse nodded. "It seems that all we hadn't had was our mother's heart. That's why our result wasn't... even human."

"And why we ended up sacrificing limbs and bodies to make it even _that_ far," Edward added. "In order to have revived her, we would've needed to give up our own hearts. And maybe even then, that wouldn't work."

Alexander thought the reasoning was quite sound. He could already think of some evidence for the theory. "Y'know, the same thing was with Kingdom Hearts itself and the Nobodies. Organization XIII was collecting hearts to create Kingdom Hearts, in order to give themselves all hearts to become human again."

Edward laid back down onto the ground. "So Dilan really was onto something, then. The Philosopher's Stone is really our world's Kingdom Hearts. People's lives – people's hearts – must be sacrificed to obtain it, and with it you can make a person whole again." He rolled over with his back to the fire. "Who woulda thought that crossing between video game universes would uncover _that_ kind of truth..."

Robo nodded slowly as the conversation dwindled to almost nothing. "Perhaps, as our journeys continue, we will gain more glimpses into how the worlds – and our hearts – work. These trials may come to an end when someone finally understands the human heart..." He trailed off for a while, and then suddenly said, "...Shall we turn in for the night?"

* * *

_"Is there a point in time you'd want to return to, Lucca?"_

The inventor rolled onto her back, wide awake with the thoughts running through her mind. The question kept crawling into her mind, like a bug that had decided to sneakily hover next to her ear. It kept coming no matter how many times she tried to swat it away.

She finally had to admit to herself that the answer was yes. There was one point in time she'd very much like to return to... It had been mentioned once before, but most everyone else didn't know about it. Crono had been a good friend of hers for years, so he already knew. Alexander, on the other hand, had learned of it through the game. He'd seen it happen. And he seemed to know of its significance to her.

Suddenly, Lucca sat up in her spot and looked around. Everyone was asleep. Robo was in standby mode, now being fully repaired. Magus had fallen asleep while leaning against the tree. The eerie light behind the eyes of Alphonse's helmet was somewhat faded. And everyone else was laying on the ground, quietly snoring away.

Lucca looked toward the eastern side of the clearing. She could've sworn that she was hearing something. Like a consistent, deep pulse. Being careful not to disturb anyone, she tiptoed beyond the clearing and walked past everyone, walking into the adjacent area.

There, she saw it. There was a Gate hanging in the air in front of a tree, and Lucca identified it as the source of the pulsing noise. Her hand trembling with her nerves, she pulled out the Gate Key from her pocket and walked toward the portal. A spark shot between the Key and the Gate, and the portal opened up. Instead of the normal blue color, the inside of the Gate was a shining red. Lucca gulped and stepped into the Gate, which closed behind her.

When the Gate opened up again, she was in a **very** familiar place. It was her room, in her house. The items cluttering her room seemed to prove her tentative theory. Adjusting her glasses, she whispered to herself, "Did I make it back... to that moment?"

There was a page from a notepad on the ground next to her. She picked it up and read it. It was definitely in her handwriting.

_6/24/990 AD  
Dad promised to go hiking with me, but he blew me off again, due to his work. I hate science! I loathe it!!_

Lucca shuddered. It was definitely_that_ moment. This diary entry of hers was a little more than a week old. She ran out of her room, down the stairs, and out toward the main room of the house. What she saw shocked her.

In the large living room there was a gigantic machine. There wasn't any apparent function, but there was a malicious-looking conveyor belt on the far side of the machine, feeding into a round steel roller. Lucca ducked behind a barrel lying around as she saw the people in the room with her.

The first figure was her own mother. Lucca kept herself from taking in a sharp breath at the sight; it had been a long time since she'd seen her on her feet. Her past mother glared at the large machine angrily, saying, "What **is** this thing? Taban says to keep away from it, but it's so dusty. I'll just..."

By that point, she had reached one end of the conveyor belt, and she suddenly shrieked. "Dear me! My skirt... it's... I'm **stuck**! Lucca! Lucca, help!"

Lucca gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. She watched as a younger version of herself – looking no older than eight years old – ran over to her mother and tried her best to help her out. Fortunately, the present Lucca was hidden behind the broad side of the machine to them.

The younger Lucca tried to free her mother's skirt from the sinister plates of the conveyor belt, but to little avail. "I can't pull it out."

There was a clicking sound from the machine, and the conveyor belt began to move. The large metal roller began to rotate in the opposite direction as Lucca's mother was dragged toward it. If she didn't escape, her legs would be crushed.

Lucca froze up with fear. That's exactly what had happened. Her mother had been crippled by this incident... She fell to the ground as she heard her mother shouting the words she partially remembered... "Lucca! Enter the password! Stop this machine!"

"But I don't know it, mommy!" the young Lucca exclaimed worriedly, watching in horror as her mother was dragged inch by inch toward the crunch point.

The inventor suddenly glanced upward toward the machine's central block, seeing a small computer screen with a keyboard in front of it. At last, she remembered her purpose for coming here. If she was really in the past, if this was really her past... She could correct this incident once and for all! She could have her mother back!

Lucca stood up and looked toward the computer screen. The words on the screen were simple: **Enter password. **The inventor girl typed in four letters as quickly and quietly as she could: L, A, R, A. Her mother's name.

As soon as Lucca entered the password, the machine miraculously halted. The past Lucca ran over to her mother and hugged her tightly, saying, "Thank goodness, mommy..."

Lara, her mother, was sobbing with relief. "Lucca... Lucca..." Those were the last words Lucca heard echoing into her mind as she blacked out, her body not able to handle much more stress.

* * *

When she awoke, she found herself leaning onto her bed, with her face buried in her arms. Lucca looked around, and saw that the Gate in her room was still there, ready for her to return to the Present. The inventor finally stood, and shook her head. She had done it. She'd changed her past. It was an incredible feeling. 

Lucca noticed another notepad page on the bed, and read it. It was from her diary again, and it was a much more recent entry:

_7/2/990  
I feel like I've learned something! I'll study machines now. There'll be no more accidents around here._

Lucca smiled. The accident involving her mother had been the entire reason she had begun studying machines in the first place. Her dream had been to create a machine that could make her mother walk again... There would be no need now for that, but it was good to see that she hadn't changed herself in the process of changing the past. Everything had worked out.

At last, Lucca opened up the Gate and stepped inside, feeling finally at peace.

She reappeared in the small adjacent clearing, and the Gate disappeared behind her. She looked around, and saw that Alexander was standing next to a tree nearby, smiling at her. Blushing, Lucca smiled back. The inventor walked over to him and asked, "Is this what you had meant back then?"

Alexander nodded. "Yeah. Did you manage to change your past?" When he received a hasty nod in reply, he sighed. "That's good. I was hoping that would work out for you. It really is terrible when one family member is rendered mostly incapacitated." After looking around for a moment, as if he were searching for eavesdroppers, he finally said, "Would you... like to go for a walk, maybe?"

Lucca was caught a little off guard. Alex was being unusually forward and shy at the same time. Still, not being totally averse to the idea, she nodded once more and followed him as they walked through the forest.

They were soon still within the sight of the glow of the campfire, but well out of earshot of the sleeping party members. Suddenly remembering something, Alex said, "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Robo wanted me to give you this."

He procured a small amulet from his pocket. It was a round slice of wood with a large green crystal embedded within it. "He calls it the Green Dream. It's a piece of amber created from pressurizing tree sap over the 400 years he was gone. It might be useful for us."

Lucca smiled as she took the amulet from his hands. "Hmm. Robo's so sweet..."

Alexander chuckled. "Give yourself some credit, too. You're the one that taught him." He took a step toward her and honestly said, "You're really kind, Lucca. You're just about always thinking of others. That's... more than I've been able to say, at least."

Lucca blushed a little more. "Don't put yourself down, Alex."

Alexander sighed. "No, really, I haven't really been thinking lately." He walked toward a tree and took a seat near the trunk of the tree, and motioned for Lucca to sit beside him. She did after a moment, giving Alex a searching, inquisitive gaze.

"I haven't led the best life," Alex began. "I mean, I'm not gonna say that I've been a complete jerk all my life, but I'm not the best. As a student, I've been okay. Usually straight good grades. But I was often alone at school. Not many friends. While my sister, on the other hand, had just about all the friends. That was during elementary school, up to when I was ten years old."

Alexander paused for a moment, thinking about how he was going to explain this. "I've always liked computers and video games. My dad was an expert on computers, and his job was usually to do maintenance on the computers. So that kind of skill and interest rubbed off on my sister and I. And since I spent a lot of time by myself during my early years, I spent a lot of that time playing computer games."

"Then the divorce hit," he said quickly. "As a marriage, it simply wasn't working out. My father had... other romantic interests. My parents are still on friendly terms now, but they just don't match as husband and wife. My dad visits us twice a week, so he's still involved."

"But anyway, that divorce caused a lot of things. For one, my dad stopped living with us. Then we moved out of our house into the apartment we live in now. But more importantly, I think, my sister and I began to switch... socially. As soon as I got into middle school, I started working harder to make new friends, and I was actually rather successful. I still played video games a lot, but I still had a life."

"Erica, on the other hand, spiraled downward. Her grades started to lower, she started pushing her friends away, and she began to resent us. Especially me. She started to find ways to force all kinds of work onto me, like making me do her homework and her share of the chores all the time. It was about that time my mother started working nights, so I couldn't pull in any authority because she was usually resting up for work during the day! And I have to admit that I lashed out more often than I should've."

"By the time I entered high school, the combination of workload at school and at home began to restrict me all over again. School became less of a drudgery and more of an escape. But not nearly as much of an escape as video games were. In the video games, I could fight to help out different, abstract worlds. I felt useful and powerful, instead of the poor sap I usually am when it comes to dealing with family. I felt necessary, rather than used."

Lucca's expression was a sad one. It was a lengthy explanation, but... "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I want you to understand," Alexander replied, turning to look at the mechanic girl's face. "I've only just begun to understand what's going on, myself. And I feel that I can trust you to... help me understand. I have... confidence in you."

The protagonist was a little taken aback by this statement. It was rather unexpected, especially coming from someone like Alexander. But... it was also kinda sweet at the same time.

Alex looked up into the sky, his face still glum. "Y'know, when I learned that Erica had accepted darkness... A part of me wasn't surprised. Because she lashed out at me, I often lashed back. So the tension between us was pretty high by the time she made her Interference in Amestris. Not to say that I didn't regret it, or anything. But when I learned that more of the apprentices would be waiting for me elsewhere... I guess I used that as an excuse to ignore the loss for a while, and use the adventure to just put it aside in my mind."

Finally looking at Lucca once more, Alex went on and said, "Then, when I was stuck in the void of death, all on my own in that numb existence, I began to realize what a fool I'd been, and how careless I'd been over the course of my life. All my life has really led up to these adventures, and my life has been changed forever because of what I've caused. I can't really go back now." He sighed. "I don't even know what's going to happen in the real world, now that my sister is gone. I don't know if I can bear explaining it to my family..."

Alexander suddenly felt himself trailing off, his voice quivering a little. Was he really... Was he really beginning to cry? _Yes,_ his mind told him, without Joumae's help. He was truly sad. At last, he was starting to cease his indifference.

Alex cleared his throat, and stared into Lucca's eyes. "And then... when I revived, you really... kinda clinched that all together for me. I'd been inconsiderate of a lot of people, especially during these adventures. I can't go back now, but I shouldn't ignore what's happened. Nor should I forget what is happening now. I've gotta help in whatever way I can in these worlds, to make up for what I've done to mess them up. Even if I have to change the way things go."

The two of them looked like they were both ready to cry. It was a sad but uplifting tale, and they soon found themselves in the present once more. They were silent for a moment, but, after some hesitation, the two leaned over to each other and embraced.

"You're making a good start," Lucca assured him.

* * *

_The next morning..._

Alexander opened his eyes with reluctance as he woke up that morning. The sun was shining and nature was in full swing, so it was almost impossible to get any sleep at this point. He yawned a little and noticed something laying against him. It was Lucca, who was only just beginning to wake up herself.

Alex felt a little embarrassed, honestly. They had fallen asleep right there, in the middle of the forest. This was going to be a bit troublesome once they got back to camp... unless, of course, the others hadn't woken up yet...

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, something swung down like a bat and hung into his view. It was the face of a certain short alchemist, leering as he hung upside-down. "Yo." Both Alexander and Lucca saw him, and...

**"AAAH!!"** Both of them quickly separated, flustering as they ran away from their original spot and glared at Edward from either side. Edward had transmuted a metal bar from the wood of the tree to pull that bat-like trick.

_**Hahaha!!!**_ Joumae cackled. **_You both have been caught now, suckers!_**

Alexander fumed. No _wonder_ Joumae had been incredibly silent last night... He heard laughing from all around them, and noticed that everyone else was watching from the edge of the clearing. Crono, Marle, Robo, Glenn, Ayla, Magus, and Alphonse... **All** of them, trying to restrain their amusement at Alex and Lucca's predicament.

Alex and Lucca blushed as Edward flipped over and landed on his feet, grinning at them. "So," he said in a mocking tone, "what exactly happened last night, you two lovebirds?"

"Nothing_happened_!" Alex was quick to say, and Lucca's glare at Edward intensified. "We talked!" the Interference continued.

"Talked," Edward echoed monotonously. He smirked and looked up at the tree. "Geez, we could've hung mistletoe above you guys and nothing would've looked any different!" A strange mirth came over him as his resistance to the ultimate teasing crumbled. "_Alex and Lucca, sittin' in a tree..._" he sang, repeating the age-old schoolyard joke.

That did it for Alexander. He took an unarmed fighting stance, and shouted, "You ain't got nothin' on me, _shorty_!!"

Edward snarled and took a stance as well. "Oh, _now_ you've done it, you twit!"

Before any fight could break out, Alphonse quickly ran between them and held out his arms. "Both of you, stop this nonsense! You both are acting so childish!"

Laughter suddenly broke out in the clearing. Everyone else just started to crack up at the comedy playing out before them. Even Lucca was laughing at the sight of them arguing like little kids. Eventually, the laughter balanced out the tension, and the Elric brothers began to laugh.

And then, strangely enough, Alex started chuckling along with them. Hey, it was funny when you thought about it. All was well.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	33. Into a Time of Darkness

Chapter 32  
Into a Time of Darkness

Gaspar awoke with a start, and became thoroughly surprised at what he saw. Everyone in the party was there. Absolutely everyone. All ten people. That meant that... no one was out going on the secondary quests! They had finished. The Guru couldn't suppress a smirk as he overlooked them all and said, "Good work. I see you have all been empowered by your endeavors. The aid you've given the people throughout time will be reflected in your odds of being able to defeat Lavos and Elaeus."

There was a meaningful paused, and Gaspar finally said, "Now one thing remains. You must choose where and when to fight them, and go as soon as you feel you are ready." He put a little more weight on his cane. "There are three main ways. You may use the 'Wings of Time' to travel to 1999 AD. You may also use the Gate in that bucket over there," he added, motioning toward a bucket in one corner of the platform, "to travel to that time. There is also the Black Omen that hangs in the sky above your world, which seems to have a connection to Lavos..."

Magus nodded. "The only distinction is what method we choose in getting to him. Alexander, you're the only one who knows how the methods work out, so it'll probably be your decision in the end. But if it were me, I would try investigating the Black Omen in the Dark Ages, in order to get rid of them as soon as possible."

"The Black Omen may most likely be under guard," Glenn supposed, frowning as he considered the details. "'Tis possibly easier to seeketh them at the time of their true arrival, whether by the Epoch or the Gate."

A small debate arose between the party members, but Alexander had thoughts of his own. He shared Glenn's belief about the Black Omen; trudging through the dungeon would take up a bit of their strength, and that would be wasted by the time they reached their goal. It would be far simpler to simply go to their time, the Apocalypse. And there was a trick by one method that could cut the number of battles down even further...

"We're taking the Epoch," he decided out loud, cutting the conversation short. "That's gonna be the best way to go about it."

Edward looked around. "Alright, but... Who's gonna go? I mean, we can only take three of the others. Four of those sidequests are gonna go to waste!"

Murmurings of agreement followed the last statement, and Alex sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I know, I know... It was inevitable, really. But did those sidequests really go to waste? I mean, come on! Beyond the weapons and abilities, we set things to rights all over time! So what is there to complain about?"

Crono sighed for a moment, but then nodded in agreement. Marle nodded with him, saying, "Yeah, you're right. We won't all be able to fight there, but Lavos wasn't the only thing that we had to deal with before now, and we all fought at some point or another."

Alphonse glanced to Alex. "I think the final party selection is going to come down to your choice again, Alexander."

Ayla looked at Alex curiously, as did everyone else. "Who you want, Alex?"

Alexander closed his eyes, hung his head, and sighed internally as he began to concentrate. This wasn't going to be an easy decision. Generally, none of the party members had any particular advantage over the others, so it was completely going to be decided on preference.

After a moment, Alex opened his eyes. "Magus, I know you've been waiting a while for this chance. You're in." As Magus smirked and stood next to Alexander, the Interference made his next decision. "Robo, it's your future, so I think it's fitting you'll be the one to save it."

As Robo also joined the group, Alexander was silent for a while longer as he contemplated the final decision. Finally, he said, "Lucca... I want you there with us when we go up against Elaeus."

Lucca smiled and joined them, and Edward rolled his eyes as she approached. "Wow, what a surprise," he muttered.

"I trust her, Ed," Alex replied quickly, catching the remark. "There's nothing wrong with that. I also believe she can help us defeat them just as well as anyone else can."

Edward sighed. Well, at least Alex seemed secure with the relationship now. There was not much point in teasing him too much longer. "Alright, alright..."

Gaspar tipped his hat at the six fighters. "If this is your final decision, then I wish you the best of luck. This world is depending on you. I suggest you don't let it down. Not even you visitors."

Alphonse nodded determinedly. "We haven't come this far just to lose."

* * *

The Epoch warmed up to a start, and began to accelerate through the void of the End of Time. As soon as it had gotten to ridiculous speeds, the ship disappeared in a bright flash, carrying Alexander, Edward, Alphonse, Lucca, Robo, and Magus along with it. 

Through time they went, with fire enveloping the Epoch in its high speeds. Suddenly, the entire craft began to vibrate as incredible energy rocked the ship around. Edward gripped his seat tightly as the vibrations threatened to throw him out of it. "Sounds like we're there!" he yelled over the rattling.

Robo's eyes flickered wildly. "Energy value at 100!" he reported. "200...! And increasing!"

The fire began to dissipate around them, giving them the view of the world at 1999 AD, as it was right before Lavos's arrival. Magus leaned forward, searching for the moment. "Come on out, now..."

They watched as a gigantic crater opened up in the earth ahead of them, and the sky darkened above the entire world. The Day of Lavos was now. The giant creature rammed through the earth's crust, sending magma and molten rock spewing into the air. Within seconds, Lavos had completely come into view, and Elaeus was barely visible on top of Lavos's head.

Magus chuckled darkly. "I've been waiting for this!"

Alphonse looked toward Alexander, and some fear was in his voice. "Alexander, are we really going through with this?"

Alexander gripped the piloting controls of the Epoch tighter. "We're fighting **now**!"

Robo shook his head. "This will have no effect on Lavos," he said, referring to the Epoch's firing controls. After a moment, he said, "How about invading the interior with the Epoch?"

Edward did a take. "What, you mean... _crash into that thing_!?"

Magus was also doubtful. "You really think this is going to work?"

Alphonse agreed with this. "The odds aren't good..."

Lucca, however, looked determined. "But if the Epoch's energy and our own vitality our combined..." She sighed, looking over the ship in a mournful way. "Sorry, Epoch..." Looking toward Alex, she said, "You were planning this from the beginning, weren't you?"

Alex said nothing, but his body tensed up as he prepared himself.

Robo settled down in his seat. "Everyone, get ready for the initial impact!"

Everyone else prepared themselves accordingly, but Magus simply sat normally, with his head bowed down broodingly. "I'm waiting for you, Elaeus..."

"Accelerating!" Alex simply said, gunning the throttle of the Epoch. The ship raced toward Lavos, but he flew over the monstrosity once to allow himself some room to gain speed. As they reached the other side of the world, Lavos seemed to notice their presence. The amount of raw energy the monster was releasing intensified greatly, and the vibrations shaking the craft became more violent.

"Epoch, don't let us down!" Lucca shouted as they came back for the terminal approach. Sirens began wailing from the Epoch's controls as the controls and the ship fought against the direction Alex tried to give it. The ship lurched up and down and to the side as they came closer and closer...

Finally, the Epoch crashed onto the ground, and slid across the earth and stone before finally impacting Lavos. A large explosion resulted from that impact, engulfing almost the entire monster. When the inferno had dissipated, the Epoch was gone. So was Elaeus. And so was Lavos's head, leaving a large gaping whole leading into the inside...

* * *

_**Wake up already!!**_

Alexander's eyes jerked open suddenly from that prompt, and he immediately regretted the motion. He clutched the sides of his head, since the headache he was feeling was almost splitting him. The rest of his body didn't feel so much better either.

His vision slowly came to a focus, and he stood up to survey the area. It was dark, with only a faint emerald-colored aura giving them light. It looked like they were in a gigantic valley, but all around them was spikes and... internal organs. Under their feet felt as solid as stone, but the existence of some time of weird fluid on the ground dispelled any illusions.

Alex looked around some more. There were pieces of metal all over the place. Fortunately, he could see his party near him, still intact. Most of everyone else was lying down, unconscious. Magus, of course, was standing quite alertly. Slowly, the group came around, with Lucca being the first to rise. "Everyone okay...?" she mumbled.

Alphonse came up next. "Yeah... What happened to us?"

Robo came up silently after a moment, followed by Edward. Magus grunted negatively, and growled, "You can open your eyes. We're inside!"

Edward's eyes widened in shock. "Hold it... We're _inside_ Lavos!? Euugh!"

The robot looked around, focusing on the charred metal all around them. "Epoch is... in pieces."

Alexander hung his head. "Sorry, Epoch..." But as he looked down on the ground, a little glint caught his eye. He knelt down and picked up the strange object. It was a small, square chip; something like what you'd see in a computer, or as a Nintendo DS game cartridge. Alex, not really considering much at the moment, pocketed the small fragment.

Magus adjusted his gloves, making sure they were tightly affixed to his hands. "...No turning back now," he noted.

The party regrouped, and started moving down the only available path to them: forward. They walked through the "canyon," and began to notice the faint sound of a heartbeat around them. The sound became stronger and more intense as they continued, soon followed by the sounds of respiration.

They came to a small opening, from where a little bit of light was pouring in. Everyone crouched through the opening, and came to a magnificent sight. They were now in a gigantic spherical room. In the very center of the room, there was a gigantic humanoid figure affixed to the center, with gigantic burly arms. The creature's skin looked like a thick membrane shaped like armor. There were also six fleshy tubes extending from the creature's midsection and out through the walls of the spherical room.

Magus revealed his scythe, his excitement barely contained. "Finally... You have met your match, Lavos!"

Lucca gasped and stepped back as she brandished the Wondershot. "This is the _**real**_ thing!?"

"Oh, excellent," Edward grumbled. "It's Lavos's _core_. That thing on the outside is just a shell."

Robo's eyes flickered more as it analyzed the Lavos Core. "Amazing..." he remarked with awe. "It houses all the DNA of every creature that ever lived...!"

Alexander looked from side to side as he brandished the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield. Elaeus wasn't around... Perhaps he had been taken out in the explosion of the Epoch? That would certainly be a best case scenario...

"It's gonna attack!" Alphonse shouted as the Lavos Core spread its arms out. "Let's beat this thing!"

Edward clapped his hands and transmuted his automail arm into its armblade. "Any way we can use alchemy to make this shorter?"

Alexander looked around. It didn't look like there was any really quick way without transmuting the main body itself... They'd have to go beat the arms first, and then go for the main body. But, like Edward, Alex didn't feel like wasting a lot of time. The Lavos Core had plenty of devastating attacks at its disposal, and Alex didn't want to experience all of them. He'd already died once by its hand.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Those tubes!" he shouted, pointing at the support tubes connecting the Core to the rest of the body around them. "I'll bet severing those will weaken it! Maybe even disable it!"

"Watch out!" Magus shouted. One of the Lavos Core's hands opened up, revealing a small opened tube. Two semicircular blades came spinning out like sharp boomerangs, heading straight for Edward. Alphonse quickly ran into the spinning blades' path, bracing himself for the impact.

The blades glanced off Alphonse's metal body, falling harmlessly to the side. Edward quickly ran to them and grabbed the weapons. "Take this!" he yelled, hurling both weapons back at the beast. The two blades traveled through the air and up one of the Core's arms, slashing it as it passed. The blades eventually slashed past the Core's face before falling to the side, doing a fair amount of damage to both the arm and the main body.

"Robo!" Alex shouted as he ran to the left side. "I need a boost!" The robot quickly ran after Alexander and placed himself under him. Alexander stepped onto Robo's arm, and was propelled upward by the lift Robo subsequently gave him. Alex was propelled up into the air, right above one of the tubes connecting to the Lavos Core. The Interference clapped his hands, creating red sparks in his grip. Using Scar's technique, he ripped through the fleshy tube all the way through, completely severing it from the Lavos Core.

At the same time, Magus leaped up to the symmetrical tube, placed his scythe on one side of it, and sliced through the tube with one clean stroke. The Lavos Core writhed in pain as some of its support was cut off. To add to the pain, Lucca charged up a shot with the Wondershot and fired at the main body, directly hitting the head.

"Hey, guys!" Edward called out. Everyone looked to see the alchemist standing... directly behind the Lavos Core. "Come on over here!"

As soon as Alex was firmly back on his feet, he ran over to Edward along with the others. "What is it, Ed?" he asked quickly, though he didn't want to spend too much time on interrogations.

The short alchemist was grinning. "Look at this thing," he said, pointing at the Lavos Core. Alex looked, confused for a few moments. It was just the back of the Lavos Core, affixed where it had been in the first place... The dawning realization was clear on Alex's face. "Oh, heck no."

_**Holy crap!**_ Joumae exclaimed, just getting the idea himself. **_It's stuck facing in that direction! It can't turn to face us if we're behind it! It's... It's _helpless_!!"_**

As Joumae began to crack up, Lucca was wide-eyed. "You mean... That's all it'll take? Just being behind it and attacking it from here?"

Everyone watched as the Lavos Core struggled to try facing the party, but to little avail. It couldn't possibly reorient its arms or head to aim its attacks properly at them. In truth, it was helpless. And with some of the support tubes unable to feed the body, it would probably die out if they left it there long enough.

Magus chuckled. "The great Lavos taken down with a little improvisation... I'm liking the ending to this adventure."

"But I'm most certainly _not_," a voice remarked coldly out of thin air. A dark portal opened up within the core room, and their true threat, Elaeus, stepped out of it. And from the look on his face, he was **not** pleased.

"Fourteen thousand years, Karsath," Elaeus growled, and Alex simply smirked at him. "All that time waiting underground, building up strength and power... And then you crash into us with that ship, and sabotage my comrade's core!" The Heartless apprentice glared at the Interference. "Weren't you supposed to be _dead_, boy!?"

"Aw, you should know me better than that," Alex grinned, holding up the Lockshield. "Like I would _really_ leave a game unfinished. Though I can't say I made it back alone," he added, looking back at his comrades. "These guys used a time paradox to bring me back from the dead."

Elaeus looked even more incensed, accentuated by the action of summoning his broadsword to his hands. He turned toward the Lavos Core and exclaimed, "Lavos! End this charade! Come out now!"

A bright light enveloped the Core, blinding everyone inside for a moment. When the light faded, the entire Core had disappeared, leaving a small creature in its wake. A very tall figure stood to its full height as the light completely faded. It was a huge, disturbed creature. It was wrapped in a gigantic orange-plated armor, with a helmet window that displayed one large eye, blinking with vertical eyelids. But it was vaguely humanoid as well.

Lucca lowered her gun slightly as she stared at the alien creature. "Now I understand..." she mumbled. "It lives on a planet for as long as possible, stealing away the most vital resources... It combined the DNA it found here with its own, and gave birth to those creatures up on Death Peak."

Alphonse understood. "Eventually the young must migrate to other planets... to repeat the cycle... taking the Heartless along with them."

Edward's automail hand clenched under the extended blade. "These people... Raised like cattle waiting for the slaughter... All of their history, art, and science... to meet the needs of this beast."

Robo took a tentative stance. "Attack value is... off the scale! It's shorting out my sensors!"

Magus's look was intensely hateful. "We were created only to be harvested. All people... and all living things..."

"So you see now!" Elaeus exclaimed, cutting into these statements. "The beauty of the design that Lavos follows! He becomes an ever-more powerful and complex creature with each world he consumes. By making myself a part of this process, I too have increased my power over time."

Lucca scowled and pointed the Wondershot at Lavos and Elaeus. "Impossible... You can't expect to toy with a world and get away with it!"

"I already have, and I will again!" Elaeus shot back. "Just look at the Heartless. They plague the worlds, harvesting hearts at will because of our hard work! Working toward an inevitable goal... And with Lavos in the mix, it won't be long before the other fictional universes fall as well! By the time 300 years pass, this world's resources will be exhausted, and the spawns will be forced to travel."

Alex snarled. Elaeus planned to attack the Kingdom Hearts and Fullmetal Alchemist universes with this plan?! "Not bloody likely!" he shouted, taking a fighting stance. Following his cue, the others took stances as well.

Seeing this, Elaeus simply chuckled and shook his head. "Foolish, all of you. You think I will simply take you all head-on, as we are now? Not quite..." With that, he took a firm hold of the broadsword and quickly stabbed it into Lavos's body. Taken by surprise, Lavos doubled over from the strike, its tall frame crippled by the blow. A dark aura surrounded Lavos as the darkness entered its body and consumed it.

Darkness covered the area around them, obscuring any view of them. After a moment the darkness faded, and the scene had changed slightly. Floating behind Elaeus was now a Guardian Heartless, not unlike the ones that had supported Dilan and Xehanort not so long ago.

"Lavos's power," Elaeus said with a grin, "now belongs to me. And with it, the power to render myself immortal!" He held his sword up high... spun it downward, and stabbed it into the floor of the room. The air around Elaeus began to warp in strange directions, almost looking like...

Alex gasped and ran toward Elaeus. "No!!" But as soon as he got within striking distance, Elaeus quite suddenly... disappeared. The warping stopped, and Elaeus was no longer there. He had warped completely away from there.

"What the hell!?" Edward exclaimed. "Where'd he go!? Where the hell did Elaeus go, Alex!?"

"To a different time," Magus growled, answering in Alex's stead. "He wanted to make himself immortal, no matter what we do to him. Chances are, he used Lavos's power combined with his own to gain the power to control time. Or, at least, to travel through it."

Robo's eyes began blinking. "Analyzing time displacement..." He shook his head. "The numbers are erratic. They constantly change. The destination for the time warp is unclear..."

"His own pocket dimension," Alex suddenly declared. Everyone turned to him, watching Alex fall to his knees in a gesture of defeat. "When Lavos fell to earth and dragged Elaeus along with it, they created their own little pocket dimension that transcends time. That's how he knew about the future and the Lavos Spawns. In that dimension, they basically exist in _all_ times. He exists in the past, present, and future all at once."

"We would not be able to defeat him without going there ourselves," Magus added, scowling further. "And if his stated intentions are correct, it won't be long before he finds some way to erase us from the timeline altogether..."

Edward growled and kicked the wall of the room. "Dammit!! There has to be a way to beat him! We gotta find our way into that place!!"

"It's impossible now," Robo stated sadly. "There are no Gates leading there, and the Epoch was trashed to pieces. We're beaten."

Alexander raised his head and stood up suddenly. He fished his hand into his pocket and pulled out the one fragment of the Epoch he'd kept. "Maybe not yet..." he mumbled to himself, staring at the piece. If there was any luck, a tiny piece of the Epoch's energy was still in this fragment. And if that was so...

"You got an idea, Alex?" Lucca asked, seeing him staring at the fragment. Everyone else turned to the Interference, and some hope began to creep back into their hearts. If Alex had a plan, then there was a chance left.

Alex switched his Lockshield to the Lightning Guard. "It's a long shot," he said, holding the Lockshield horizontally in front of his chest. "But it's the only chance we have." He held up the fragment of the Epoch over the keyhole of the Lockshield... and dropped it into the opening.

The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the fragment had disappeared into the keyhole, Alex doubled over and clutched at his heart. Power started to fill his heart and mind, and the space around him began to warp. Alexander clutched his head and screamed at the top of his lungs as the incoming power overloaded his senses.

"Alex!!" Lucca shouted, but Edward held her back when she tried to approach him. The alchemist had seen this reaction before, and was beginning to see what the Interference's plan was.

The warping became more intense, and Alex's body suddenly went slack. His body floated up into the warping air, with the Lightning Guard hovering just above him. When the warping was at the height of its erraticism, there was suddenly a bright flash that filled up the entire room.

Within the bright light, Alexander was slowly brought back down to the ground, onto his feet. The transfer of power had been successful. The Lockshield, on the other hand, had changed design completely.

Now it looked like it was made out of rugged brown stone. There were golden spindles like the hands of a clock extending from the keyhole in the center. The spindles extended beyond the edge of the shield, forming the 12 o' clock position with the "minute hand" and the 3 o' clock position with the "hour hand." Going counterclockwise from the minute hand on the shield to the hour hand, there was a shining steel blade along the edge of the shield.

The light faded, and the rest of the party saw Alexander with this new Lockshield in his hands. Alex opened his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling drained and energized at the same time. He held up the Lockshield to display it to the other party members, and instantly knew what to call this design. "The Time Fracture."

Magus glanced down at the shield, then up at Alexander's face. "Alright, so what does this all mean? What happened to your previous design?"

Alex looked down at the Time Fracture Lockshield in his hands. "The Lightning Guard was overridden. Erased. This one allows the use of my Lightning magics as usual. But it now allows me to use a couple of new abilities."

Edward looked anxious. "Abilities... like what?"

The Interference smirked and held up the Time Fracture. "_Chronos Warp_!" he intoned. All of a sudden, the entire space around the party began to twist and contort, and they felt the familiar feeling of traveling through time and space... as the space around them became incredibly bright once more.

* * *

Their journey through space and time ended in a strange dimension. It was a seemingly infinite space with no visible ground, shining all around them with different shades of green, brown, and flashes of gold, all flowing toward one common point in the distance. The scenery around them was mostly transparent, like an image. And that image was constantly changing. At one point it would look like an ancient mountain range, then the bowels of Magus's Castle, then the middle of a fairground. 

There was one other inhabitant of this strange dimension. And he was even more distressed by their arrival. "What the...!?" Elaeus exclaimed, his Guardian mimicking his reaction. "How did you get here? You'd have to..."

"Transcend time," Alexander finished, still brandishing his new Lockshield design. "Unfortunately for you, I know how to improvise. ...I suppose being lucky doesn't hurt, either."

Edward grinned and pointed his armblade at Elaeus. "Remember that beating I said you were going to get, last time we met? Well, it's a little late, but it's still gonna come!"

Elaeus growled and swung his Heartless-themed broadsword menacingly. "Just because you made it this far... has no bearing on whether or not you'll survive! With Lavos's power combined with my Guardian, I am the most **powerful** being _of all time_!!!"

"We'll see about that!" Lucca shouted, charging up a shot with her Wondershot. She lifted the business end of the gun and fired, sending a blast of energy at Elaeus. The Guardian suddenly teleported to Elaeus's front and took the full force of the attack.

_**Alex, careful!**_ Joumae shouted into Alex's mind. **_You don't have very much Drive power saved up. You can't use Final Form to make this short!_**

Alexander nodded and charged forward, switching his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal. He jumped up toward Elaeus as the Guardian went back to its original position, and gave Elaeus a couple of strikes that landed true. Elaeus quickly countered by floating into the air and swinging wildly with his sword, catching Alex high and knocking him back. The Guardian charged up some energy and threw a small, bright blue Slash wave at Alexander, throwing the Interference back even further.

Alphonse ran back to tend to Alex's new wounds, while Magus charged in with his sickle brandished. He jumped high into the air to meet the Heartless apprentice, who was ready with his sword. They both started trading blows at incredible speeds, both weapons simply glancing off the other as steel clashed over and over again. Magus's sickle was spinning wildly, and Elaeus was handling the relatively large sword with ease. At last, Elaeus deadlocked both weapons to one side, and the Guardian blasted some dark energy into Magus to knock him back.

"Heads up!" Edward yelled, swinging his armblade. But Elaeus simply floated higher to avoid the attack; Edward's reach wasn't enough.

"Hah!" Elaeus taunted. "You'll have to reach higher than that, shorty!" But he was suddenly struck in the small of the back by Robo's Rocket Punch from below.

Elaeus tumbled to the ground, and looked up to see Edward's angry face, one eyebrow twitching. Edward leaned in for a moment and growled, "Who're you... callin' a _shorty_?" With a roar, Edward rammed his armblade into the Heartless apprentice, lifted the antagonist's body up and threw it down onto the ground on the other side. With the force of the rebound, Elaeus and his Guardian were sliced cleanly through by the armblade, but the darkness managed to seal the gash.

The Heartless quickly recovered, but noticed that Magus was gathering energy behind behind him. The wizard completed the motions and shouted, "_Dark Bomb_!" Shadow magic energy collected around Elaeus and imploded, creating a spherical radius of dark energy that damaged Elaeus.

There was an angry growl as Elaeus floated up into the air, away from the rest of the party. Dark energy collected into the Heartless's blade. With a shout, Elaeus swung it downward at the party. Gigantic waves of dark power raced toward the group from the slashing motion, and there were explosions as the dark attack reached and impacted the party.

Elaeus took a deep breath and floated downward slightly as the dark power dissipated after the attack. It had been some pretty hefty damage, so it wouldn't be too much more difficult from here...

Suddenly, a bright explosion came from the back of the group, centered around Lucca and Alexander. The Interference had used Reflect to defend himself from the attack. Alex ran into the middle of the group and lifted the Heartless Seal into the air, shouting, "_Curaga_!" A wide green aura enveloped the group, providing healing energy that greatly aided their recovery.

The Guardian quickly threw a couple more small Slash blades in Alex's direction. The Interference used his Quick Run Level 2 to run slightly to the side of the attack, and used a combination of his High Jump Level 2 and his Aerial Dodge Level 2 to get high above Elaeus. In the back, Lucca finished summoning a great amount of Fire magic, and threw it in Alexander's direction.

Alex switched his Lockshield to the Time Fracture as his weapon caught the magical energy, becoming imbued with intense fire. Alexander slashed downward at Elaeus as he came down, creating a pillar of flame as he slashed through the Heartless.

Elaeus was angry once more as he recovered from the strike, and stretched a hand forth toward Alexander. Six clouds of darkness formed a perimeter around Alexander, and six clones of Elaeus stepped forward from them. They were all wielding the same sword, and, with a single motion from the real Elaeus, they all charged as one toward the surrounded young man.

In the seconds he had to react, Alex shouted, "_Chronos Break_!!" Suddenly, from Alexander's point of view, everything stopped. The entire world went gray to him, and everything ceased to move. But he was still mobile, and colored. He had quite simply... stopped time. Alex wasted little of the effort, moving as quickly as he could to wipe out the frozen clones of Elaeus. He soon realized that they went down in only a few hits; they were only weak clones formed from spare darkness.

To everyone else, as time started up again for Alexander, it seemed as if the boy had taken them all out in a single instant. Elaeus's expression, as well as those of everyone else's, was one of shock and amazement. Lucca, however, took advantage of the distraction and fired one more shot at Elaeus, which struck true.

Alexander, taking a small breather, felt himself staggering a little. The Chronos abilities were taking a lot out of him. He wouldn't really last too much longer by using those powers, but they had proved vital so far in defending and countering some of Elaeus's moves. So they needed to really take him out soon.

Elaeus, however, didn't look ready to quit yet. He had taken a fair bit of damage, yes, but he still had plenty to go. While Elaeus was still shocked by Alex's attack, Edward ran over to Alex and said, "You got a plan?"

Alex thought for a moment. Elaeus was now recovering; he would attack in just a moment. He suddenly said, "Get above him," and started running toward Elaeus.

Edward nodded and looked toward his brother. "Al! Gimme a boost!" Alphonse quickly obliged, getting under Edward and throwing him high into the air, soaring above Elaeus.

At the same time, Alexander was within striking distance of Elaeus. As the Heartless apprentice looked ready to counter, Alex swung the Time Fracture Lockshield once more and intoned, "_Chronos... Omnislash_!!"

All of a sudden, seven clones of Alexander appeared around Elaeus in a circle, all of them in mid-run. All eight Alexanders jumped toward the now-shocked Elaeus, converging on him with Lockshields at the ready. Six of the Alexanders slashed right through Elaeus as they passed by, and disappeared. One of them clashed with the Guardian right behind Elaeus and kept it busy. The last one jumped off the recoiling Elaeus and used a High Jump to gain altitude... right to where Edward was.

Edward caught the idea as Alexander flipped upside-down. "Go for it!" Edward shouted, pushing back on Alexander and propelling him back downward. Alex came hurtling down toward Elaeus, and quite simply slashed right through him and landed right below him. The other Alexander, the one that had been clashing with the Guardian, faded out of existence.

Elaeus crumbled down onto the ground, along with the Guardian. Darkness was beginning to flow off of his body. He'd been defeated. "H...How...?" he groaned, clutching his body.

_**Simple. He just kept traveling back in time over and over again, to create multiple instances of himself in the same time. Basically, he relived that attack eight times, just through different perspectives.**_

Alexander couldn't get the strength to stand; that last Chronos power had knocked the wind out of him. He simply looked weakly back at Elaeus and said, "This is more than... just a game, Elaeus. I can... improvise."

Edward, now back on his feet, walked toward Elaeus. His armblade was still present. Holding it menacingly over Elaeus's neck, he said, "It was a big mistake, coming to our worlds. You bit off more than you could chew, messing with a State Alchemist."

Robo and the other Chrono Trigger characters approached. "Threatening all life on this world," Robo stated as well, "was another mistake of yours. You and your kind keep underestimating us."

"Bah!" Elaeus spat angrily. "Seven hearts among millions makes no difference! The Heartless still accomplished their goal! Your world will remain ruined."

"Not likely," Magus retorted. "Remember, we're in your pocket dimension now. We've defeated you and Lavos outside of our timelines. We've defeated you in _all_ times."

Elaeus's face contorted with his rage, and he shot a deathly glare at Alexander, who was being helped to his feet by Alphonse. "Alexander Ephiram Karsath!" he declared at the top of his lungs. "One day, your heart will belong to the darkness! I swear it on my comrades, who wait in the darkness for you still!"

Edward grunted, lifted his armblade, and swung it down on Elaeus's neck. As soon as the blow followed through, Elaeus's body dissipated into vapory darkness, floating up into the air and dissolving into nothingness. The Fullmetal Alchemist looked up into the sky, and transmuted his arm into his original shape. "About time."

Suddenly, the space around them began to change. The changes in the dimension could be felt as stability fell. Without Elaeus around, the pocket dimension was fading fast. The time-image around them began changing rapidly through many different places in time, and the shining colors of the background started flowing even faster. After this became almost infinitely erratic, a bright light shone into the space, enveloping the party completely.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.**


	34. First Festival of Stars

Epilogue  
First Festival of Stars

Edward, Alphonse, and Crono walked into the Present-era's Guardia Castle, to face the King and the Chancellor. As the four boys gave the King the proper deference by falling to one knee, the King glared down at them and said, "We've been looking for you young men. _Where_ did you take my daughter?"

Suddenly, Marle ran into the room as well, standing beside the boys and holding her arms out in a gesture of protest. "Daddy, don't! They haven't done a thing!"

The King stepped from his throne and faced the Chancellor. "She says Crono and the others have been perfect gentlemen, but... what do you think, Chancellor?"

The Chancellor appeared to give it major consideration. "Their deeds have had an enormous impact on the kingdom!"

Marle gaped at him and dashed over to the Chancellor, shouting, "Chancellor, how could you!?" Looking toward her father, she said, "Please! Just listen to me! We had to–"

"...save the future, right?" King Guardia finished for her, startling just about everyone in the former party. Marle was the most surprised of all.

They heard footsteps to the right, and saw that Doan, the old man that had been in charge of Arris Dome in the Future, was walking toward them. "You saved the future, and gave us hope," Doan stated, gladness in his voice.

From the left, Crono and the Elrics saw the King Guardia of the Middle Ages approach them. "You fought Magus's troops," the past king declared, "and brought peace to the kingdom in the year 600."

Right behind the old King Guardia, Kino of the Prehistoric era came forward. "Crono beat Reptites!"

Edward glanced left and right repeatedly, until he was so confused that he clutched his head in confusion. "Wh-What's going **on** here!?"

As soon as she said that, Lucca and Alexander stepped out from behind the throne with wide grins on their faces. Lucca held up the Gate Key proudly, and Alex had the Time Fracture Lockshield in his hands. Marle ran over to them, even more surprised now. "Lucca! Alex! You two brought them here, didn't you?"

Lucca nodded. The present King Guardia looked toward his daughter and said, "Our kinsmen told me all about your incredible mission."

It was just one surprise after another for the poor girl. "**Kinsmen**!?" Marle shrieked. "You mean these are **my** ancestors... and descendants?"

King Guardia chuckled. "Here I was fussing about my kingdom, and my daughter, and _you_ were saving past, present, and future!" The King walked over to Crono, and motioned for all three boys to rise. "Now, for a true victory parade! Tonight we celebrate... you!"

Turning toward his daughter once more, he proclaimed, "Now Marle, go out and enjoy the last night of the fair!" Marle grinned and cheered, glad that things were ending in this way.

* * *

That night, the Moonlight Parade in the Millenial Fair was in full swing. Around the middle of the fairgrounds, heavily dressed women, men, children, and even some Mystics formed a parade line and marched around the grounds. Lights were abundant in the Fair, strapped to every fence, stall, and table available throughout the entire place.

"Come along with Crono, our Hero," some members of the parade cheered. "Princess Nadia is finally home! At last, Guardia is back to normal! It's a moonlight parade!" Crono and Marle joined the parade line and marched around once.

While that was all happening, Lara and Taban, Lucca's parents, were next to the fountain. Taban had taken a seat, as well as a drink. Lara was busy trying to pull Taban off his lazy bum. "Honey, don't just be a sack of potatoes! Dance with me!" As Crono passed them, Lara looked toward them and said, "Crono, the King says you saved the future! Wait 'till I tell my friends!"

"Lemonade sure tastes great outdoors," Taban mumbled. He looked toward Crono and grinned, offering his drink. "Crono, have a sip! You're the Hero today."

Crono blushed as they passed his mother standing near the center of the grounds. She was rather shocked. "**You** saved us all!? ...That's nice, dear, but I wish you spent more time around the house. It's a real problem when the person who's in charge of the cat is gone!" Marle laughed out loud and gave Crono a pitying pat on the back as they marched onward.

They eventually passed Melchior, who had shown up for the parade as well. "Not much business in weapons anymore," he remarked as they passed him. "But I like it that way."

When they had made one full circuit around the fairgrounds, Lucca ran over to them and beckoned for them to follow her. Crono and Marle left the parade and ran toward Lucca, heading toward the back of the fairgrounds.

The entire party was there near the Telepod, which was up and running. The machine was charging a Gate nearby, and Lucca had managed to calibrate it so that everyone would be sent to their own time. Lucca sighed and looked toward everyone, now that they were all gathered. "Well, everyone, this is it."

Glenn nodded. "Each to thine time."

Robo looked toward the machine. "The Gate has grown weak..."

Alexander stepped forward. "We'd better say our goodbyes before the Gate closes. I'm not sure if I'll be able to send the remainder back accurately with my abilities, so let's not chance it."

"You're all leaving?" Marle asked, looking sad.

Kino passed Crono and Marle, approaching the Gate. Ayla stood next to him, grinning. "Crono was strong! Marle too! Ayla have fun!!"

Marle smirked and approached Kino. "You're my distant ancestor. So you'd better have tough kids or I'll be in trouble!"

"Heh heh," Kino chuckled. "No worry. Ayla **very** strong!"

"Right!" Marle agreed. Then she blinked and lost her smile. "Hey... what do you mean by that?"

Ayla walked over to Kino and gave him a firm punch in the cranium. "Kino dummie! We go now!" She grabbed Kino, dragged him toward the Gate, and threw him in. After blowing a kiss to Crono, Ayla leaped into the Gate as well, disappearing.

The King Guardia of the past neared the Gate, and Glenn stepped forward. "'Tis a feisty crowd!" he noted. "But they are thine kin, and 'tis of consequence." Looking toward the rest of the group, he said, "Queen Leene awaits. Your Majesty, we too shall take our leave."

The King nodded and stepped into the Gate, disappearing. As Glenn neared the Gate, Marle mumbled, "Mr. Glenn..."

Glenn closed his eyes and sighed. "...Long farewells ne'er were necessary."

Marle walked over to Glenn and grinned. "Right! Besides, actions speak louder than words!" With that said, she quickly gave Glenn a quick peck on the cheek. Everyone burst into fits of laughter as Glenn reacted wildly, jumping back and almost falling into the Gate.

Edward held back his giggling. "Yeah! Don't these things end with the princess kissing the frog?"

After a long moment, Glenn let out an amused _ribbit_ and jumped into the Gate. After him, Magus dashed toward the Gate. Marle looked at him and said, "So... you're going to search for Schala?" But Magus disappeared through the Gate without a word.

It was just Robo and Doan left. Robo stepped toward the Gate and looked at Lucca. "Lucca, I will miss you."

Lucca simply looked downcast. Alphonse was confused by this. "What's wrong, Lucca? Aren't you going to say goodbye to Robo?"

Alex sighed. "She knows."

"Knows... what?" Marle demanded.

Lucca shook her head. "...Robo was born in a bleak future. When we defeated Elaeus, we changed history. Robo... may not exist in the future."

"Ha ha," Robo laughed artificially. "Please relax. The new future has a place for me!"

The inventor ran over to Robo and pounded a fist against his metal chest. It did no damage, but Robo allowed her to do it. "Darn it, Robo! Don't pretend you don't care when you're really sad! It just makes things worse!" She broke down into tears, and Alex knelt down beside her silently.

"Lucca," Robo encouraged her, "**you** have taught me these emotions. Thank you."

Marle smiled. "Tears don't become you, Lucca! Robo'll be there in the new future!"

Doan stepped into the Gate. Robo stepped back from Lucca, and hesitantly lifted a hand in a farewell gesture. "Good...bye." He then turned toward the Gate, but ended up knocking into the main part of the Telepod, sending some oil spraying. Robo covered his face as some oil got onto his eyes. "Caution! Oil has washed over sight sensors. Sight diminished..."

The slight comedy had everyone chuckling, and Alex helped Lucca back to her feet. Robo waved at the party once more, and stepped into the Gate.

Crono joined up with the other five as a blue glow filled up the entire area. The Telepod ceased to function, and the Gate shrunk down into nothingness, closing completely. The adventure was finally over.

Lucca sighed. "Do you remember that talk we had?"

Edward nodded. "You mean about whether our lives flash by before we die?"

"Yeah," Lucca replied. "I get the feeling that the heart of the world is finally at rest."

"Yes, I feel that too..." Alphonse agreed.

A Guardia soldier approached the six fighters, and cleared his throat. As they all turned to him, he said, "Oh, Princess, the King asks for your presence." He walked back toward the previous section of the fairgrounds, and everyone followed him.

They walked under the archway where Leene Bell had once been, but the bell had been removed. The King saw them approach, and said, "I have a gift for you to commemorate this day, Princess Nadia."

Marle gasped as she saw two more soldiers carry a brand new bell into the area, with a gigantic bunch of balloons strung to it. "It's..."

"It's Nadia's Bell," the King explained, "which will replace the 400-year-old Leene Bell. Henceforth, Nadia's Bell will proudly ring for everlasting peace."

Marle cheered. "It's beautiful!"

"Now," the King said, "you can do the honors."

Marle nodded and picked up the bell, approaching the archway. Crono walked over to her and gave her a boost, lifting her up so that Marle could untie the balloons and affix the bell to the archway. Marle then jumped off, still holding the balloons tightly in her hand. "Done!"

Alphonse walked over to the bell and gave it a small push. It began to swing back and forth, ringing with a clear, almost soft sound as it struck again and again, ringing for peace as was promised. Suddenly, Marle began to rise, being dragged upward by the balloons she was holding onto. Everyone panicked and tried to reach her, but she ended up rising too high before even Alphonse could reach her.

"Huh!?" Marle exclaimed, panicking as well. "H-Hey Crono, help me!"

Crono climbed up the stone archway and leaped off of it, grabbing onto Marle and the balloons. His weight brought her back down halfway, but it wasn't long before they started to rise again, higher and higher into the air. The party frantically tried to get them back down, but it wasn't long before they were completely out of reach, floating away.

_**What the...!?**_ Joumae mumbled. **_How can twenty balloons lift a couple into the air?_**

Alexander laughed. It would've taken several tens of thousands of balloons more to be able to produce that effect, but... "Well, it looks like some things in the different worlds have to remain weird, even if it seems to defy the laws of physics."

Lucca laughed. Suddenly, Nadia's Bell was surrounded by a twilight aura, and Alex's Heartless Seal Lockshield came into his hands. Realizing what was happening, Alex held out the Lockshield in front of him.

Everyone else in the area disappeared. A light flashed from the Lockshield, and the shining image of the Heartless emblem appeared beneath his feet. A strange wind began to blow against him while his surroundings were enveloped by light. When the light faded, he was surrounded by a starry expanse, which represented the space between the worlds.

The bell shot out a dark beam and a light beam up into the air. The dark beam formed the keyhole-shaped Dark Corridor above him. Alex looked into it, and saw a mass of Shadows inching toward the opening. Alexander twirled the Lockshield around, making a big show of it, and then finally pointed it at the keyhole. A halo surrounded his weapon for a moment, then it closed in and shot out a beam at the Dark Corridor. When it collided, a dark green wall formed itself and covered up the opening.

Alex turned around and faced the gate that the light beam had created. He twirled his Lockshield around and did the same thing to the gate. When the beam pierced through the gate, a bright light filled up the gate and spilled out into the expanse he was in. Soon the light was all-encompassing, and he soon found himself back in the Millenial Fair.

Large fireworks displays began to fire off in the sky. Lucca looked toward Alexander, Edward, and Alphonse and said, "So what are you guys going to do now? The adventure seems to be finally over."

Edward looked up at his brother. "I think it's about time we headed back to our own world. With any luck, our train is still waiting for us. I think I'm just about tuckered out in the way of adventures, anyway."

Alphonse nodded. "It's been a great time traveling with you, Miss Lucca."

Lucca smiled and looked at Alexander. "I suppose you're going to go on to yet another game universe after this?" she asked.

Alex nodded sadly. "Yeah... I've still got a quest to finish, after all. But... I think I'm going to be taking a day off from this adventuring business. I don't know how the real world is going to cope with the loss of my sister, so I better go ahead and find out. Besides... it was my birthday when Erica had made her Interference last time. Back there, it'll still be that day."

"Will you come back?" Lucca inquired honestly.

Alexander sighed. He took a couple of steps toward Lucca... and suddenly hugged her once more. "Don't worry. We're together in this. We'll meet again."

Edward shook his head, but was smirking. "Aw, what do you care how things turn out in the end? You got the girl."

Lucca and Alex shrugged. "True," they said simultaneously.

Alex grinned and ran back to the Elric brothers. He looked back toward Lucca and waved at her, and then brandished the Heartless Seal Lockshield once more. He pointed it at the open air in front of him, and yelled, "Unlock!" A bright beam shot out from the keyhole of the Lockshield, and stabbed into the air a few feet away. Ripples formed in the air, which eventually transformed into a portal. Almost as one, Alexander Karsath and the Elric brothers jumped through.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in Amestris, where almost no time has passed..._

The crowd in the train station was left speechless and confused as the portal disappeared, carrying Alexander and the Elrics along with it. It was truly a sight they had never seen before.

However, the Kingdom Hearts characters weren't so disturbed by it. Riku sighed and shook his head. "He really likes his dramatic exits, doesn't he? So much for being discreet..."

"Yeah," Sora replied, rolling his eyes, "as if _we_ were really so covert ourselves over these last couple of days." Riku merely grunted at this. Roxas laughed in Sora's mind.

Major Armstrong, however, was not so calm. "They... disappeared! They're gone! Where did they go?"

Kairi shrugged at the burly military officer. "Probably to another world. I don't think we should worry too much."

In her mind, Naminé agreed:_**If what Alex guessed was true, it will only be a matter of time before...**_

Then, all of a sudden, the same dark portal appeared in the middle of the crowd. Alexander, Edward, and Alphonse jumped out of the portal, landing on their feet calmly and firmly. They looked as if they hadn't changed in the slightest, but in reality they'd gone over the course of an entire adventure.

Armstrong was overjoyed. "Edward Elric! You had me worried there for a moment! Now, let's board this train before it departs!"

Edward sighed. "We just got back, and we're already back to business." He chuckled and ran toward the train, with Alphonse close behind.

Meanwhile, Sora, Riku, and Kairi approached Alexander. Sora grinned at him and said, "So where'd you go? How was it? What'd you do?" He launched a barrage of questions at Alexander.

The Interference rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's a... long story. I don't know if I could explain it right here and now..."

Edward and Alphonse had taken seats on the side facing the group, and Edward shouted toward them, "Hey! It was nice traveling with you guys!"

Alex nodded and walked toward Edward, meeting him at the window's opening. "Yeah, it was pretty fun. Hope you have good luck in the rest of your travels. And I hope that those new abilities will help you too."

Alphonse shuddered. "Yeah... Central City. We just took... another long detour again. I'd forgotten again."

Edward laughed and nodded at Alex. "Well, good luck to you too, Alex. Give those Heartless apprentices a beat-down for me!"

"Will do!" Alex said with a laugh. The train lurched forward as the wheels started to move along the track, and the train slowly began to accelerate. Alex walked to keep up with them for a few moments. As they accelerated beyond the point that Alex would follow, he waved and shouted, "Thanks for everything!" Sora, Riku, and Kairi waved too.

* * *

Edward waved back, and then collapsed onto his seat. "Man, what a week," he groaned, letting his exhaustion show. "That was a long adventure."

Armstrong, on the other side of the walkway of the passenger car, asked, "Whatever do you mean, Edward Elric?"

"It was only a few seconds here," Alphonse explained, "but the three of us were on an adventure in another world for several days. We were kinda working around the clock on it."

"Hmm," Armstrong mumbled, "what a strange phenomenon." But he gave Edward the peace he requested. A long while passed in silence, while Edward simply relaxed and nodded off.

Suddenly, a loud _boom_ sounded off from the back of the train, and Edward was thrown forward as the train was rattled. Alphonse gasped and looked toward the source of the disturbance. "What was that? An explosion?"

"Bleeeah..." Edward groaned, his tongue sticking out. He'd bitten down on it because of the explosion.

Suddenly, a voice came in over the PA system of the train. _"We are the People's Eastern Revolution Front! We have assumed control of this train! I repeat..."_

Alphonse looked doubtful as the announcer dragged on. "People's Eastern Revolution Front?" he echoed curiously. With a laugh, he said, "Sounds like a bunch of names cut-'n'-pasted together."

"I certainly haven't heard of it," Major Armstrong agreed.

Edward groaned and looked out the window. "I'll bet it's another new _radical_ group. Geez, what is this world coming to? I almost liked Guardia better..."

Another uneasy silence settled over them, with Armstrong staring at Edward. "Hmm... Aren't you going to do something?"

"Huh..." Edward grumbled, looking back at the Major. "Why do I have to?" He suddenly started to sweat as he saw the Major **glaring** at him with an intensity he _didn't_ want to deal with. Staggering to his feet, he sheepishly grinned and covered up his statement with, "Dyah, uh... I mean, you could take those guys all by yourself, right Major?"

After a moment, the Major smirked. In an incredibly quick motion, he stood up, threw off his military coat, and began to flex his muscles. Sparkles came out of nowhere, and it looked like a spotlight had appeared on him. Alphonse and Edward cringed as Armstrong declared, "Indeed!! It's just their luck they hijacked a train with the Strong Arm Alchemist, Alex Louis Armstrong, on board!" Armstrong chuckled and struck another pose. "Come hither, crooks! You shall regret you bad luck in due time, I assure you!"

The forward door of the passenger car opened up, and the pseudo-spotlight faded away. Two thugs wielding guns stepped forward. One of them started saying, "Alright, you...!" But they were surprised by both the few people and the strange qualities of those people. "What the... Who _are_ you freaks?! You heard the announcement, didn't ya? This train's now under the control of the Eastern Liberation Federation!"

Alphonse remained still, but remarked, "I guess they've changed their name since the announcement."

Edward sighed, simply not worried about this new problem. He'd been through too much to be worried about _this_. "Ugh, I just can't take this anymore..." He suddenly looked over at Alphonse and demanded, "Hey, weren't we just in a situation like this?! I mean, _before_ we'd left?"

Alphonse thought about it for a moment, but finally nodded. "Yeah, we were."

"Someone musta put a curse on us..." Edward growled. He then abruptly paused, a surprised look on his face. Then, his expression contorting into a scowl, he looked toward the back of the train and screamed: **"Damn you, Alexander!!!"**

* * *

As Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Alexander left the East City train station, Alexander suddenly stopped and looked back at the tracks. The others gave him inquisitive looks. _**What's wrong, Alex?**_ Roxas asked.

"Ah, nothing," Alex replied aloud. "I... just thought I heard my name, that's all."

"Yeah," Riku agreed, "it was probably nothing." As they continued to walk along, Riku then asked, "So... just what exactly did you guys do on this adventure of yours?"

Alexander grinned and motioned for the others to follow. "It's a long story. I'll tell you along the way, on the path back to Destiny Islands. We went to Guardia, the world of Chrono Trigger..."

**The Interference III: Wings of Time**

_**END**_


	35. Conclusion Specials

**Conclusion Special #1:  
Alternate Ending**

Joumae walked into the blackness of the screen once the ending had rolled in. Looking up at the word **_END_**, he said in a surprised tone, "**What!?** This story is ending _already_!?"

With a laugh, and to Joumae's further surprise, Roxas walked into view as well. "That's what the word usually means."

"Huh?" Joumae mumbled. "Roxas? What the heck are you doing here?"

Roxas shrugged. "Doing _something_. The Kingdom Hearts characters got pretty much no attention during the story. I'm getting bored."

Joumae nodded knowingly, but then a thought struck him. "Hey, wait... You're referring to yourself as a character in the writing... Holy crap, we're _breaking the fourth wall_!"

Grinning, Roxas nodded.

**"Sweet!"** Joumae cheered, jumping into the air with joy. The fourth wall was something he'd been wanting to break since the first story! And now they finally had a chance to do it! When he finally calmed down, he looked toward Roxas and said, "So... what are we gonna do here?"

Roxas stepped off-screen and pulled out a projector and a laptop. Setting them up on a table that appeared out of thin air for their convenience, he said, "Well, we can take some slides from the story and give commentary on them. No restrictions on what _kind_ of commentary, either."

The protagonist's counterpart acquired a couple of chairs and set them on either side of the table, and took a seat in one of them. Facing the wall behind him, he said, "This oughta be great."

Sora's Nobody started to work with the laptop, trying to bring up the slideshow. After a few moments, he scowled as he encountered some difficulty. "Darn Powerpoints... Ah, there we go!" The projector flickered to life.

"First up," Roxas said, "a view of Alex's apartment, right before they head into Guardia." A picture just as Roxas had described came up: a still frame looking into the living room of Alex's apartment, just as Alexander was putting in the game while Edward and Alphonse were watching.

Joumae rubbed the back of his head. "Man, that apartment's small. Alphonse takes up just about all the horizontal space between the TV and the couch!"

"And, heck..." Roxas added, "if it weren't for Alphonse, even Edward would look large in that place. I don't know how Alex and his two relatives do it." Roxas pressed a button on the laptop, and the picture faded out.

A new picture faded in. This was in the inner sanctum of the cathedral in the Middle Ages, where Alex had freed the Chancellor from the small treasure chest. Joumae laughed, seeing the priceless look on the Interference's face at that precise moment.

Roxas snickered as well. "And so that running gag begins. Man, to look at the sprites in the actual game, the Chancellor looks a whole lot bulkier than the chest."

The slide shifted, and now they saw the small, narrow, hanging bridge from the prison. Alex was leaning over the edge, with Lucca's hand in his grasp to keep her from falling. Joumae rolled his eyes. "This is where it really started, isn't it? The whole 'pairing' thing... Actually, I think the term is 'bonded by trauma.'"

Roxas leaned back, placing his hands on the back of his head. "Didn't think that the author would go for a pairing, though... I mean, Alexander is him, so does that mean he has a crush on Lucca?"

Joumae shrugged. "Who knows. Betcha that some of the fans egged him on for it, though. The people on the Legends forum."

"Oh, right," Roxas grumbled, covering his eyes with one hand. "The couple now has_shippers_. Perfect..." He quickly pressed on the keyboard of the laptop, and the image shifted again. This time it was a dirty, dusty Robo sitting on a metal floor in a dark room, just as he'd been when the group had first found him.

Joumae yawned. "Good ol' Robo. Always getting swindled out of screen time. Next!"

Another shift. Now it was their battle against Masa & Mune, with Edward lobbing a Mid Ether bottle with a fireball in it. Roxas's eyes widened in surprise. "A makeshift Molotov cocktail?"

"One of his better ideas," Joumae replied with a grin. "I'm glad it was Edward who got the Fire magic, really. Fits his personality."

Roxas nodded. "Then Water for Alphonse since he's the cool-headed of the two. But why give Alex Lightning magic? I would've expected him to get Shadow magic. Y'know, to go with the whole 'darkness' theme from the first two stories."

"That would've been cliché," Joumae pointed out. "Lightning is a change of pace." He reached over the projector and pressed a button on the laptop. The image faded out, and another one came in again. Now it was the party of six flying the Dactyls toward the Tyrano Lair, in the Prehistoric era.

"I really liked Ayla as a character," Joumae said suddenly.

The Nobody smirked. "Yeah, because she wears the least clothing of all the cast," he said with a chuckle, and quickly moved the slideshow onward before Joumae could put his protest to words.

Now they were seeing the moment just before Alexander's death. The point where Alex had placed his body inbetween Lavos and the rest of the group behind him. Joumae sighed and shook his head. "I can't believe no one expected this."

"Well," Roxas cut in, "there were a couple of people on Legends. But those were the people who already knew what happens that far into the game. The other people would've been just as shocked if Crono had died."

The slide changed again, and now they were seeing Magus standing over the coast, looking down from the cliff to the sea. This had been right after the final fight with Dalton. Joumae shrugged and said, "Kinda ironic, really. Having one of the major bosses as a party member later on."

"It makes the Ozzie sidequest a bit more satisfying, though," Roxas mumbled, pressing the button on the laptop again. Now they were seeing Lucca and Alex's embrace in the dark forest, just after the last sidequest. Both counterparts chuckled, but said nothing as they went onward.

Now the two of them saw the final battle against Elaeus, with Alex wielding the new Lockshield he'd gained. "Time travel powers," Joumae grumbled. "Man, that's gonna make the next story pretty interesting. I hope there's some limitations to it, though."

The slide changed again. Here, they were seeing Edward and Alphonse on the outbound train, dealing with their new problem as hijackers attacked the train. Roxas smirked. "Alex never told them about _Broken Angel_, did he?"

Joumae shook his head. "Nope. Chronologically, the second FMA game comes right before the first. And with the Elrics' new abilities, it'll make those events and the rest of the series _interesting_, to say the least."

Suddenly, the light from the projector faded as it suddenly turned off. With confused looks, both boys looked back to see... Crono glaring at them, with his finger resting on the power button. "What **are** you two doing!?" he growled.

The counterparts were shocked twice over. Once for Crono appearing in their little fourth-wall-breaking session. And once again for... "You're talking!" Joumae exclaimed.

Roxas actually managed to answer Crono's question. "Uh... We're just... having a nice little slideshow." As Crono's glare intensified, he rubbed the back of his head and said, "Okay... we got a little carried away."

"A little?" Crono muttered, snatching away the projector and the laptop. "C'mon, you guys are gonna be late for the cast party."

Both boys shot up out of their seats. "Cast party!?" Joumae shouted. "I never heard about a cast party!!"

Crono nodded at them, and started walking away. Roxas groaned and slapped his forehead. "Great, we just wasted this ending." Beginning to walk after Crono, he said, "I vote to just go to the party and forget about all this."

Joumae sighed and started following Roxas. "Not a bad idea. Breaking the fourth wall isn't all that great, after all..."

_**...END**_

* * *

**Conclusion Special #2:  
Author's Notes**

Newbie-Spud here once again. As expected.

Well, did you like that little ending? I thought I might as well treat you all for being such a wonderful audience. ...And I really had been tempted to break the fourth wall for a long while now. How fortunate for me that Chrono Trigger already had such an ending that I could spoof!

Three stories. Good grief! I've typed over **400,000 words** for this _entire_ series. That's an absolutely ludicrous number on a site like this! A couple of real book novels, at the very least. And the strange thing is, I'm not even done yet! Chances are, I'll have another many hundred thousand words before you see me give this project up.

I've had a few thoughts as I've gone over the course of this story. So I might as well treat you now with giving out another set of Author's Notes, my commentary on the stories as a whole.

Of course, the word "treat" can be entirely subjective.

* * *

Resurrection of the 16th Bit

Chrono Trigger for the SNES is truly a marvelous game in its time. Excellent story, gameplay, and art all around. In fact, it was elected by GameSpot to be one of The Greatest Games of All Time. It was one of the first RPGs I'd ever played, and it's pretty darn close to my entrance into the adventure genre of video games, possibly just short of Sonic the Hedgehog.

So I felt rather loyal to this game as I came around to using it as the host for the series. But boy, what a project I'd undertaken! The game is still 16-bit, and – as I've explained before – there isn't as much detail in cutscenes as one would like when writing a story. So there has to be a certain amount of improvisation and interpretation in writing it into a novel form.

And it's really, really, really, really big!! Just about everything in the world is heavily detailed and interconnected, and trying to skip all of that wonderful detail would be dishonorable to the game. Of course, trying to capture _all_ of it would be taxing on my writing muse – as well as my readers, I'm sure.

People who've been looking at my writing analytically – as in style, skill, and content – will notice a great change over the course of the three stories in the saga. There's a fair bit more detail now. My vocabulary has broadened somewhat, and I try not to be repetitive so much.

This adventure has forced me to increase the level of detail I pour into these stories, because of a problem the game presented that was somewhat paradoxical. On one hand, the game has a lot of detail that is hard to capture all the detail in the game, but it also requires some additions when it comes to specific movements.

Also, battles aren't so easy to capture in the game. In the three-dimensional reality I write in, the Chrono Trigger battle engine simply doesn't work. So each battle has to be done and acted in a three-dimensional sense.

It has forced me to grow in my writing prowess. If there hadn't been any progress, a lot of you probably would've stopped reading long ago.

* * *

"Lucex"

...is the term given to the relationship between Lucca and Alexander that I've apparently established. At least, that's the term that fans of the "pairing" have given it. And it looks like it's catching among the Legends forum community.

Let me set one thing straight: I don't truly approve of the "shipping." Believe me, this came out of the blue for me as well. There was a small little pretext for it in the first few chapters, and the community of The Interference: Legends took it positively, and urged me further when I went on with it. So now we have something like this.

Romance is not something I was expecting to write at all. I just simply wasn't planning on it. But, then again, a lot of this story has been built up on improvisation and going with the flow. I suppose it also shows how much I've improved over the last year or so in writing this series.

I can be proud of it, as long as you people keep giving me compliments. Review on this site, people! If I have more reviews here, the more likely I am to work harder at writing the next installment. Less FF reviews, less motivation. Direct relationship, and all that jazz.

* * *

The Art Contest

Oh, right, that art contest. The fact is, people, that the contest was decided in a few weeks after the announcement. I got three entries for the contest, and the winner was _jenny210_, the same person who made the very first piece of fan art for the story! You'll see her new outfit in the next installment of The Interference. Go to The Interference: Legends if you want to see all of the submitted designs.

* * *

The Continuing Saga

So just what will this next installment be? Well, of course it'll end up being in the universe of another video game. That's how it works so far, and I enjoy that process. I can't give away the name of the host game yet, but I can give you a few hints. These will narrow down the guesses at any rate.

One, it will be back on the Playstation 2 console. SNES was fun, but I don't think I could handle another two-dimensional game. It's just simply too taxing at times. And there's no good in causing hiatuses, is there?

Second, the game will not have Square-Enix's brand on it in any way, shape, or form. Square will not have had a hand in the next game's development. Square's games are great, don't get me wrong. But there are other great stories outside of their range, and I don't want to look like I'm staying in a rut by sticking with them. Going to another developer's universe will open up the range of where this story can go.

That's all I can tell you. So make sure you be patient, and await the arrival of **The Interference IV: Dark Renegade**!! It will be in the Game X-overs section!

* * *

The Final Mix

But that's not all, I'm afraid. No, over the last year and on I haven't stopped pumping out new material. It's been one story after another so far, without much of a break. So I think it's time we change that up a little bit. I apologize in advance.

I'm not going to stop working, of course. But I have a little something planned to work on. You see, as I mentioned before, there is a great difference of writing style between the first story and this current one. As well as writing _quality_. The truth remains that I can hardly read the first story nowadays, because the first story's style is lacking compared to how it is now.

The main problem is speech in paragraphs. It's a well-known rule that there should only be one speaker having dialog in a paragraph. But I ignored this rule in the first story and for the most part of the second story. Why? Because I couldn't supply enough detail.

Without detail, if each quotation only belonged to one character, each paragraph would look only one line long on a 1024x768 screen resolution. That looks repetitive, and people would feel obliged to start skipping. I know I feel that way when I see a whole screen of one-line paragraphs. So I cut a few corners to start out.

Then, at Chapter 13 of The Interference II, I changed up the style and corrected my ways. Each paragraph with quotation only belonged to one character at a time, and I came up with more detail to thicken up the paragraphs and make the story better. And now I want to do that to the rest of the series.

Thus, starting as soon as I'm ready, I'm beginning the Final Mix Project. I'm going to be pretty much rewriting The Interference, as well as the first twelve chapters of The Interference II.

There will be no great change in plot. It will just be adding more detail, making lines a little bit better, and maybe putting in a few scenes that might make things smoother. Basically, making the first two stories even better to match the first. It might sound like an abandonment to those stories at first, but it's really an effort to make them of an even greater quality.

So before you start looking toward The Interference IV, start looking for **The Interference: Final Mix** in the Kingdom Hearts section. Yes, the first story will undergo a slight name change as well. Not the second, though.

And since I am simply changing the content rather than making a new story, here's how I'm going to handle the alert email system on FanFiction. I will add the improved chapters in groups of four or three. Whenever I have a new batch up, I'll delete and repost the Conclusion Special of those stories to send the alert email out. So, those of you that have subscribed to the alert emails, don't be alarmed when you start receiving those for the 45th chapter of The Interference.

And, with that, we wrap up this installment in the Interference saga. I've said all that I wanted and needed to say, so now I must go. And if you want to continue being a part of the Interference universe, go join The Interference: Legends through the link on my profile page. I'm the administrator there, so you'll most likely see me around. It's a roleplaying forum, for those of you that haven't given it a look yet, and I roleplay Alexander there.

But, all advertisement aside, Happy Holidays and have a great New Year! _Au revoir_!


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